


Miss Granger and Miss Granger

by Roselillas35



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cute Kids, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Good Severus Snape, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Kid Fic, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Severus Snape Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26795155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roselillas35/pseuds/Roselillas35
Summary: When Miss Granger and Miss Granger returned to Hogwarts and ran into Severus Snape, the potion teacher, one of them fell in love and adopted the teacher, leaving the other no choice.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 119
Kudos: 385





	1. The meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first story on this site and my first story ever in English. I am already sorry if something is not clear and for all the mistakes I must have made. Please, feel free to report them to me. 
> 
> I trully hope you will found this story at least nice.
> 
> Thanks to my Bestie and Beta reader for 10 years now, that help with that story in my native langage : Nanouk <3

**Chapter 1 - The Meeting**

After the death of You-Know-Who, the war was not over for many people. There were those who fought for their lives or those of their loved ones, those who fought for their freedom despite their crimes, and those who fought to put behind bars those who had committed said crimes.

For some even less fortunate, it was all three at the same time.

Severus Snape, a renowned Potions master and a renowned Death Eater, was one of those less fortunate people.

He miraculously survived the now famous Battle Of Hogwarts, thanks to an antidote which was tested at that time. Afterwards he spent more than three months in an artificial coma to allow his body to reject the massive dose of venom that Nagini, the snake, had injected him with. When he woke up, he was questioned, asked about his actions and about other people he could identify as a Death-Eater. Then it was his trial, where he was dragged through the mud as well as put on a pedestal. Finally, he had to survive the hordes of journalists, haters and worshippers who chased him to get a new scoop out of him.

He then moved into a new apartment, his family home totally overwhelmed by intruders and took a well-deserved rest that lasted several months. It wasn't until almost two years later that an old acquaintance of his appeared at his house, not to have a cup of tea, as usual, but to ask him to resume his position as the Hogwart’s Potions’ professor. After much debate, which included arguments such as his inability to find a job due to his past, the possibility of having his ingredients paid for by the school, and the ability to meet private contracts from St Mungo's Hospital, London's Magic Zoo and other private sectors. Severus finally agreed. He will never reveal that what pushed him to say yes was his need for a familiar routine and the return to a place he long considered to be home despite the bad memories. 

Severus Snape had now been back for several years at Hogwarts, always known for his strict learning methods but not anymore for his fanatic preference for Slytherin, despite his ever-present role as head of the house (and a few points offered without a good reason to his old house).

It was exactly 6 years after the day of the Battle of Hogwarts that his little routine was disrupted.

He was sitting alone, in the teachers' common room, legs crossed, an ankle to the knee, reading one of his last books when the door slowly creaked open.

He raised his head and saw a mane of chestnut hair, clinging to what appears to be a little girl. She scanned the room with her eyes and finally noticed him. She gave him a broad smile with a missing tooth and Severus couldn't help but raise a curious eyebrow. 

She seemed to take this as an invitation and the little girl entered the room, closed the door behind her and trotted towards him. She stopped at his feet and swayed back and forth on her tiptoes, her ponytail and little red dress with golden bias following her movement.

"Hello ! What are you reading? I like to read a lot, now I read White Fang. Mum says it’s a classic muggle book."

Severus raised his inquisitive eyebrow even higher, observing the young intruder with a curiosity mixed with a little exasperation. The girl did not seem shocked by his lack of response and hoisted herself on the sofa, sitting comfortably next to the wizard, swinging her little legs.

"Your book is big. My mummy also read big books. Now it’s “Harimacy and the curse breaking” or something like that."

"Arithmancy."

"That's it ! Do you know it? "

The little girl looked at him with a huge toothless smile and didn't seem at all disarmed by his lack of conversation. Without really knowing why, he began to answer.

"Yes, I do."

"Cool. What are you reading?" She pulled gently on her book to try to see the cover. He yielded and showed her the title.

"La… test… de… ve… lop… ments... and… dis… cov… cov..."

"Discoveries"

"Discoveries in… the… world… of… Po...tions!"

Proud of her, she smiled at him again. She asked : 

"And You, you know how to make potions?"

"It would seem so."

"Will you teach me?" 

"If you are coming to study at Hogwarts, Miss, I will. "

The girl chuckled happily as she heard him call her "Miss", she stood up proudly.

"My mum, she said that when I grow up I will go to Hogwarts, then you will teach me. My name is Rose Granger, you will remember?"

Severus raised his curious eyebrow again.

"Are you the daughter of Hermione Granger?"

"Do you know my mum? People say she's a hero!"

Severus frowned, he had learned, like absolutely everyone else in the sorcerer's world, about the break-up of Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Not that he was interested in the information. He looked at the girl, she couldn't have been less than 5 years old. Her conception must have taken place at the end of the war. While the breakup had made the headlines without allowing the information to escape him, he had not heard at all about the pregnancy of the Golden Trio's brain.

He observed the little girl in more detail. Her chestnut hair was so curly that it seemed indomitable. Warm hazelnut eyes. He should have realized this before, given the similarities.

"What are you doing here then, Miss Granger?"

"We're here for the anniversary of the war. My mum was talking to a lot of people. I was bored, so I went on a adventure and found you."

"Your mother doesn't know you're here?"

"Well, yes, but not there with you. I'll tell her. " Rose seemed perfectly serene about her plan but suddenly she wrinkled her nose.

"What's your name?"

"Professor Severus Snape."

"It's hard to say, your name... Can I call you Sev? Like I call Uncle Neville Nev? Uncle Nev also wants to become a teacher, he's an apprentice here but with the plants… Mum says she would like to be a teacher too but she can't. "

"Can't she?" Severus frowned.

"Nah, she works in the archives, she likes it, but not too much."

The little girl looked around them as if she was afraid to see her mother appear from behind a painting and whispered to him.

"To be a teacher she has to go back to school but she can't because she doesn't have enough money. I heard her talking about it with Auntie Ginny, but it's a secret."

She put a little finger on her lips and blew a little "shush" then chuckled in her hands. Severus couldn't help but be curious.

"Is it not possible for your father to help?"

"I don't have a dad! It's just me and my mum! Mummy she says that we are smart enough not to need a man and that if someone tells me otherwise I have to defend myself."

Severus smiled at her vehement tirade which seemed to have been repeated many times. Just as quickly Rose seemed to forget the conversation and pointed to the book he was still holding open. 

"Can you read your book to me? "

"I doubt that you'll find it to your liking, Miss."

"Please?"

She grabbed his sleeve and begged him with her big brown eyes, waiting for him to start reading. Severus sighed, opened the book to the description of a benign potion and started reading. The little girl clung more and more to his arm. The reading lasted a good ten minutes, interspersed with many questions from the girl ("What is a beozard?" “A Bezoard” "Anti clockwise?" “Like so”) before the door opened abruptly and a young woman with a mane similar to the little girl sitting next to him, entered in panic.

"Rose, where are... Rose!"

Without paying the slightest attention to him, Severus observed his former student throwing herself on her daughter and hugging her. She also was wearing a red dress but darker, decorated with gold and seemed to be between panic and relief. The young woman hadn't changed much from her senior year, only her face was a little more mature. Seeing the mother and daughter next to each other, he wondered how he had not understood the identity of the little girl before.

She put her daughter on the ground and grabbed her firmly by the arms.

"Rose, you know you can't leave without telling me! I could not find you and was so scared!"

"Sorry mummy, but I was in no danger, I was with Sev!"

Finally, the young woman he had easily recognized as Hermione Granger looked up and seemed to notice him for the first time. He hadn't moved, book in one hand and crossed legs, he raised, again, a curious eyebrow towards the newcomer which made the little girl laugh happily and hide behind her hands. Hermione stood up.

"Professor Snape!"

She ran a hand through her own hair, checking the state of her mane and dusted her dress. He politely bowed his head in greeting.

"Miss... Granger?"

Hermione then ran her hand through her daughter's hair, unnecessarily trying to fix her ponytail.

"Yes, it's still Miss Granger. I am not married."

"Mummy, mummy, Sev, he reads big books too, did you see?"

The girl leaned over the teacher's legs to point to the title in gold letters.

"Yes sweetheart, I saw, I hope you didn't bother Professor Snape too much."

"No mum, he was reading his book to me!"

It was Hermione’s turn to raise an eyebrow. She gave an amused look to the silent professor.

"A book totally destined for children, I have no doubt about it."

Professor Snape closed his book with a sharp movement, stood up and pushed off his black wizard coat. Standing upright, He was one head taller than the young mother.

"Headmistress Mcgonagall is looking for a competent apprentice to train. Accommodated and paid during the apprenticeship."

He again politely nodded his head to each of the two women in the room.

"Miss Granger. Miss Granger. Good evening."

He walked out of the room, his large black coat lifted by his movement. Hermione watched him leave, surprised. She had to have a discussion with Minerva to be able to pass her candidacy if it was true. She looked down at her daughter who smiled proudly at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for your time. I would love to have your feedback, how did you find it ? 
> 
> Again, sorry for any mistakes, again, feel free to report them to me.
> 
> Haha, I don't know why I am stressed to publish that, please do not kill me people ^^


	2. Day after day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus is far too popular nowadays for his own taste. Every one seems to want to speak to him when he just want to be alone. But it starts to change when a toothless smile is regularly send at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much every one for the nice comments and all the kudos of the first chapter. It made me blush and feel a little less insecure about my writing (story or mistakes) <3
> 
> This was a fun chapter to write with slice of life and evolution of the Rose&Severus relationship.
> 
> I hope you will enjoy it !

**Chapter 2 : day after day**

"Severus!"

The Potions Master stopped and turned to the person who had called him. The Scottish accent that was reflected in his name when she spoke it always made him want to smile. Not that he had ever done it in front of her before and would ever do it.

"Minerva."

He politely bowed his head in greeting to the headmistress who was approaching him, her square glasses on her nose and her hair still pulled in her stern bun. She wore her green tartan wizard's robe despite the relatively warm weather of this month of May.

"Miss Granger came to see me yesterday, asking me if I really had a vacancy for an apprentice. I think I owe you this surprise?"

Severus folded his arms and looked away. 

"You and I both know that the simpleton you are currently using as an apprentice will not remain so for long because of his incompetence. Like the half-dozen candidates you chose before him. It's as if good wizards no longer exist. You should be thanking me for sending you a candidate who won't waste your time."

Minerva sighed and brought her hand to her forehead in embarrassment. 

"I am indeed delighted to welcome Miss Granger as an apprentice, Severus, truly. But could you, next time, warn me before such an initiative? It will save me from asking my apprentice to read me a letter telling him I am thinking of letting him go."

Severus smiled inwardly by imagining the scene and the headmistress’ embarrassment.

"What a pity I wasn't there to see it." Severus added, turning around, starting to move away from the woman. He had walked a few metres when he heard her speak again and this time a slight amused smile stretched his lips.

"Watch out Severus, or I might just as well have you welcome the First Years this September!"

* * *

"Professor Snape!"

Severus sighed and didn't stop, hearing the young man running towards him to catch him. That June’s morning was surprisingly cool and damp. Once the intruder was close enough, Severus answered without stopping, going down the stairs to the dungeons.

"Longbottom, for the umpteenth time, I am no longer your teacher."

"S-Sorry Professor, I-I mean..."

Severus stopped abruptly on the stairs and made a quick U-turn, facing the Gryffindor, who nearly ran into him. He backed off two steps by reflex, red rising to his cheeks. 

"You were the organiser of a resistance that lasted a year, against a dictatorship led by myself. You fought in a war in which your side won. You destroyed a Horcrux with a single stroke of a sword. You saw me everyday for a year now! By the name of Merlin, when are you going to stop stuttering when you talk to me?! I must say, it's getting a bit wearisome!"

The young man was now pale and trembling, he handed him a box. He cleared his throat and swelled his chest, seemingly gathering his courage.

"The ingredients you asked for. Asphodel, nettles, mugwort, and everything else you ordered... sir."

Severus carefully retrieved the box and opened it, quickly observing its contents. Satisfied, he closed it meticulously. 

"Thank you Longbottom. Pass on my thanks to Pomona."

"Yes sir!" he quickly replied, standing motionless before the Potion Teacher, his eyes wide open. The Slytherin had once again to refrain from sighing.

"What else do you want, Longbottom?"

"I... well... g-good day, professor."

The young man left quickly, leaving Severus exasperated.

* * *

"Wait! Snape!"

Severus stopped. It was the second time he'd heard that voice in a fortnight after years. He had heard that she had moved to Hogwarts, now that the students had left, to work on preparing for her classes.

Hermione Granger arrived breathlessly in front of him, her hair held in a tight bun and her cheeks reddened by her running. She was wearing a modern (or Muggle-inspired) navy blue wizard's dress and held a pile of books in her arms. This vision made her want to smile with nostalgia for another time.

"Miss Granger."

"I wanted to thank you. For telling me about this position, I mean. I told in front of Rose that I didn't want to beg Hogwarts for a job, but I must confess that Minerva seemed as relieved as I was at the thought of -"

Severus raised his signature eyebrow and cleared his throat, silencing the young woman. She looked at him surprised and he asked.

"What can I do for you?"

Hermione frowned, probably a little upset, but he didn't care. She straightened up and took it back.

"As you know, I got the apprenticeship with Minerva. I owe it to you and I wanted to thank you by -"

"That won't be necessary." He cut it off again.

Again he ignored the young woman's vexed gaze, walked around her and continued on his way to the dungeons. He knew that his invitation was not motivated by him getting her a job but mainly by her guilt. He had received a few letters and even an uncomfortable visit from the Golden Trio during his hospitalisation, where they had apologised for leaving him for dead. He then had to raise his voice to make them leave. It was not his responsibility to make them feel better about his fate.

* * *

"My poor friend!"

The Potion teacher looked around him for a way to escape but, unfortunately for him, she was extremely good at appearing out of nowhere without giving her victims a chance. She grabbed his arm and looked at him intensely through her thick glasses, her shawl falling on his forehead and a strong smell of old sherry attacked his nose.

"Sybill..." he grunted.

She squeezed her long fingers around his left arm and he held back a grimace of pain as he felt her nails dig into his old mark. She had a nebulous look on her face that worried him. He knew from first experience that some of the nonsense of her was to be taken seriously. 

"A pure soul will need you to protect a unique bond. There you will find your purpose Severus. Do not avoid it, do not deny it!" she announced in a hoarse voice.

He sighed, for once it wasn't a terrible death she was predicting, but it wasn't any clearer. He took her hand and made her let go of his arm. Trelawney stepped back, holding his head, as if lost. Not waiting for her to recover, he turned around and walked out of the teacher's room under the stunned gaze of the other colleagues.

This was exactly why he preferred to come when no one was around.

* * *

"Sev!"

Severus looked up from his book. He had finally managed to be alone in the teachers' room. It was a pleasant room, bigger and brighter than his quarters and he liked to read there regularly, especially in the slots where he knew he would be the only one without a lesson or the only one present.

He saw the little Rose sticking her head through the door as when they first met. This time she was wearing a fluffy grey jumper with a unicorn to fight the castle’s coolness of this first week of September, black leggings and big socks without shoes. She was also holding a book that seemed huge next to her.

It wasn't the first time the little girl had come to him before she was caught by her caretaker of the moment. Severus even went so far as to say that it was becoming a habit to such an extent that this room was the first place where the oldest Granger would come to look for her daughter when she disappeared. However, this was the first time she brought a book, she usually just assailed him with questions. Rose ran across the room and climbed up beside him.

"Have you escaped your mother's supervision again, Miss Granger?"

"No, mummy she's working! Uncle Nev is watching me, but he's asleep, so I've come to see you," the little girl chuckled.

He raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment about sermonizing the little girl before thinking about the panic that the apprentice botany teacher will feel when he realizes that the little girl disappeared again. In a somewhat sadistic way, he decided not to say anything. 

The little girl threw him her radiant toothless smile, which was beginning to cheer him up even on bad days, and handed him his book.

"Can you read it to me? Mummy says I have to practice with other books, the others I know by heart."

Severus gently took the copy from her hands and turned it over to him. 

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard" he read.

"Do you know them?"

"I don't know a single wizard who hasn't at least heard of this book."

"Mummy and I read to The Fountain Of Fair Fortune."

Severus watched out of the corner of his eye as the little girl came close enough to him to follow the reading. He sighed and opened the book to the first page of the tale in question.

"High on a hill, in an enchanted garden..."

* * *

He had a severe headache and his temples were throbbing. This happened from time to time and the Mediwizards and Mediwitches he saw explained them by his war wounds and doloris sessions. He was alone in the teachers' room at his usual Tuesday morning break. He held his head in his hands with his eyes closed, trying to force his own head to stop hurting him.

Suddenly he was startled when cold little hands touched his forehead. 

"Sev?"

It was the little Granger, he hadn't heard her coming, and she was now standing in front of him in a little green velvet dress and warm tights, looking at him worriedly. 

"It hurt, Sev?"

He took a deep breath and helped the little girl up the sofa to sit next to him.

"I’m fine," he said. “Which book today, Miss?"

She smiled at him with one tooth less than usual and handed him her Muggle storybook. Forgetting his headache for a little while, he had time to read her two stories before her angry mother walked into the room.

* * *

It was the end of October. Severus looked up from his book. The eldest Granger holding her daughter's hand was standing in front of him. Hermione had cleared her throat to get his attention. She was wearing her usual bun and one of her usual modern witch dresses. The little girl was in a pink tutu, striped tights and a multicoloured jumper. He raised an eyebrow observing the outfit, it seemed that the little girl had chosen her own outfit that day. 

"I tried everything! Even Intruder Charm or spells sometimes worthy of prison security. It would appear that Hogwarts itself is helping my daughter escape on Tuesday morning to find you, much to my dismay. So I thought I might as well make it easier."

The young mother knelt down in front of her daughter and took her little hands.

"I want you to stay with Professor Snape this morning. I'll pick you up at noon and you can go to your godmother Ginny and your godfather Harry afterwards, as usual, okay? You obey him and don't do anything stupid."

"Yes, mummy."

The young woman stood up under the black and inquisitive gaze of the teacher.

"Granger, what do you think you're doing?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

The young witch sighed, put a lock of hair back in place and put her hands on her hips.

"You and I both know that if I leave her with someone else, she will come find you anyway. It's quicker and safer to leave her with you directly." 

"I'm not a babysitter, Granger."

"Oh, believe me, if I could, I would do otherwise."

The young woman walked towards the exit of the room under the even darker gaze of the Potion teacher.

"Look, I don't have time to find anything else, please keep her today. I'll owe you!"

She slammed the door on those last words, leaving Severus alone with her daughter who was already handing him her book. He studied the little girl standing in front of her. 

“You wanted me to teach you how to make Potions, didn't you?"

* * *

The next morning he heard his voice echoing through the corridor again. 

"Professor Snape!"

"I haven't been your teacher for years, Miss Granger." he replied without looking at her...

The young mother managed to catch him and stood in front of him to stop him, arms folded and eyebrows furrowed.

"Potions? Don't you think it's a bit early?"

He crossed his arms in a mirror image of his former pupil's position and raised his nose dismissively.

"If you have instructions for your daughter's guardians, maybe you should spend more than 5 minutes with them before leaving her. I had orders to attend to this morning, not that you asked."

The young woman seemed surprised at this response and finally let out a deep sigh and replaced a lock of hair with the others.

"Thank you for keeping her... I had no other solution with Neville ill. But... to make her do first year Potions? That could have been very dangerous" she insisted. 

"Do you really think the group of 11-year-old idiots who come into my classrooms every year are less dangerous and more difficult to deal with than a 5-year-old?" 

She held his gaze for a moment before she grunted and raised her hands in abandonment.

"Very good! It's not as if I can be picky! Rose is not leaving me another option. Anyway I trust you to bring my daughter back to me safe and sound... Is that..." She paused, suddenly seeming hesitant, "Could you keep her every Tuesday morning ? At least for a little while?" 

Severus frowned and seemed to analyse her.

"I wouldn't ask any more questions, I don't understand why, she adores you and only talks about you" she added.

He cleared his throat.

"That could be possible." he answered.

The young woman gave him a radiant smile identical to her daughter's and he cleared his throat again, a nervous habit he had acquired from his war wounds. 

"Thank you very much. Do not hesitate if you need anything.”

"... I will let you know."

With that, the young woman turned around and ran away before the professor had time to realise what he was committing himself to and change his mind. 

He finally uncrossed his arms, sighed and passed a hand over his face. He thought back to the time when everyone feared him and no one spoke to him. He still didn't know what he preferred between that and now being the guardian of a 5 year old girl once a week.

He was becoming too soft with age...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think ? I hope this chapter was enjoyable and you liked it :)  
> I personnally love to write Rose and imagine how Severus would react to such a sweet girl.


	3. Weeks after weeks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi every one ! 
> 
> A new chapter of this story, I hope you will like it.

**Chapter 3 : Weeks after weeks**

It was a cold and wet November day. The rain had not yet turned into snow and the weather was gloomy, like the residents of the castle. It was a Tuesday morning and Severus had an order for the legal department of the Ministry to fulfill. He was focused on his veritaserum, used for serious crime, when the little girl's voice echoed through the empty classroom. 

"What does 'Mudblood' mean?"

The potion teacher froze on top of his copper cauldron. The little girl was sitting on a desk, colouring an animated magic book with an enchanted pencil. It was a pencil filling the surface between lines and taking the colour of what it touches. She had just touched the blue colour of her tights to colour the sky of her current page. Severus nervously cleared his throat, bad memories coming back to him.

"Where did you get that from?" he finally asked.

She raised her big eyes from her book and looked at it.

"Mommy, she has a boo-boo on her arm. And that's what it says. What does it mean?"

He stood silent for a moment, hearing only the boiling cauldron and the crackling of the fire in front of him.

"...it is... a pejorative term."

"A what?"

Severus delicately put down his crystal stirring rod and sighed. The universe had a very wry sense of humour. Now he had to explain to a five-year-old girl the purity of blood and its absurdity.

"What do you know about what we call the Second Wizarding War."

The little girl looked up at the ceiling, gathering all her memories, no doubt wanting to answer his question correctly. 

"Mommy, Uncle Harry and Ron, they fought in the war, against a man... Voldymort?"

Severus frowned when he heard the name and cleared his throat.

"Lord Voldemort, indeed. He and his followers believed that wizards with two parents who were themselves wizards were better than wizards with one or both parents who were Muggle."

"Why?"

"They think that Muggle people are worth less than wizards because they are not abble to perform magic."

It was the little girl's time to frown.

"I don't know how to do magic."

"You're still too young, but you already have the aptitude."

" Aptitude?"

"In short. These people use insulting words to define those with Muggle relatives. M...Mudblood is one of them."

"Is that a bad word?"

"It is an insult indeed."

"Then why does Mummy have it in her arm?"

Severus ran his hand through her hair and sighed...

"Your mother has Muggle parents."

"Yes, grandpa and grandma!"

"One of the people who shared the views of the Dark Lord did this to her."

"They hated mummy because of grandma and grandpa?"

"Because of the fact that they're Muggle, yes."

Rose was silently staring at her book, playing with the edge of the page. 

"Does it change anything to have Muggle blood?"

Severus looked up and waited for his silence to make the little girl raise her head. When she crossed his gaze, he said firmly. 

"No. No, it doesn't change anything."

* * *

"Sev? Why are all Slytherins evil?"

He froze and looked up from his book to look at the little girl working on her penmanship. She had innocently asked this question without even looking up from her scroll. 

"Pardon?"

The little girl took her quill to her lips and chewed it mechanically.

"I heard them say it, that Slytherins are bad."

"Who did you hear say that?"

Rose shrugged, not answering his question. He clenched his jaw before answering coldly.

"I am a Slytherin."

The little girl's eyes widened and she whispered.

"Really?!"

He nodded his head, keeping an impassive face. 

"But... Sev…. You're not mean" She added.

The Potion Teacher cleared his throat and answered.

"Some people would disagree with this statement"

Severus got up and sat down on a chair in front of the little girl's desk. 

"Some people may say that because Slytherin had the highest rate of wizards following the Dark Lord during the war. However, there have been some in every house, without exception."

The little girl was staring at him, drinking his words. He added.

"When you tell someone that he should be evil, or bad... you only encourage them to do so. Because that's what is expected of them. Or because they already have this image and can't get rid of the image."

"So...People are evil because we say they are?"

"No. Not only that."

Severus sighed. Not really knowing how to hold this conversation. Brutal honesty and sarcasm were his usual weapons. Not pedagogy or diplomacy.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's important to give people a chance. Some of the purest people may be to Slytherin, and some of the most evil may be Gryffindor. No matter who, no matter how old, no matter where they come from, you'll find good and bad people".

"So not all Slytherins are bad?"

"Indeed."

She nodded and smiled at him before she started her writing exercises again. Severus' throat remained tied.

* * *

"Sev? Can a Muggle make potions?"

The ancient DeathEater finished counting the drops of dragon blood before putting down his bottle.

"They have equivalents, but if they did what I do, they wouldn't have a potion. Just a bad soup."

He slid the willow sap from the kettle along the cauldron so it would flow smoothly into the light green potion. Rose watched him with her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands.

"Why?" she ask.

He retrieved the silver ladle and began to stir the contents of the cauldron, taking care of doing perfect circles and counting them.

"For some potions you have to use your wand or cast spells to complete them, but even when this is not the case, a Muggle could not make a potion. There are many theories of why. One of them is that every element a wizard touches is charged with magic, and it is this magic that would allow potions to be one. There are instruments and cauldrons already charged with magic with which even a squib can make a suitable potion."

"What is a squib?

"Someone who has at least one relative with magic powers but who does not have any magical abilities."

He was still counting the number of circles... 20...21...22. The little girl followed the ladle with her gaze, silent, in full reflection. When he took the ladle out and put it delicately on his worktop, she started again.

"Sev? Am I a squib?"

"Unlikely. They are extremely rare cases. Some specialists say that children with magic will have demonstrated it before the age of seven. You still have time. Longbottom didn't show signs of magic until very late. Personally I don't think you are. You have already made potions with my help.” 

“Nice.”

* * *

"Sev? Why won't Mummy give me a magic wand?"

A powerful fire was burning in the fireplace to drive out the dampness of late November. The little girl was wearing a pink hoodie that she got for her birthday with an embroidered abraxan on the back. She had a sulky look on her face.

"I can't speak for her but to give a wand to a child too early is a bad idea. It will prevent them from developing their powers and magic without a wand. It would be like blocking his magical growth."

"First I have to do magic without a wand?"

"That's better."

“Okay ! I will do that!”

* * *

"What's that mark on your arm? Is it like Mommy?"

Severus stopped cutting his mandrake roots and wiped his hands. He had rolled up his sleeves to work and didn't think the little girl would be interested in his mark, which was pale on his white skin.

"No. It's called the Dark Mark."

"What is it?"

He hesitated for a moment, wondering how to approach the conversation. He was no longer ashamed of it, but didn't know how to explain his role to such a young child.

"This... is the sign that someone was faithful to the Dark Lord."

"Voldemort?"

"Yes, Lord Voldemort."

A heavy silence fell over the room and weighed heavily on Severus. He could feel the little girl staring at him. She leaned her head to the side, intrigued.

"You were a bad guy Sev?"

He sighed. He put his hands on the desk and looked at the wood on his worktop. He didn't know why, but he couldn’t look up at the little girl right now. 

"It's not that simple. In a war, both sides think they are the good guys, as you say. Some people make mistakes, some people lie... and some people make bad choices that they regret."

He finally looked up to look at the stone wall. 

"When I was a student at Hogwarts... I was promised a lot of things I dreamed of... in exchange for this."

He waved to indicate his mark. He was surprised to feel his arm trembling and cleared his throat. Without really understanding why, he continued to talk, to tell.

"I made... many mistakes, choices that I ended up regretting. When I could not deal wi(th it anymore, I changed sides. But this. This mark. It will stay all my life."

He finally looked at the girl who seemed to think for a moment.

"Don't you like mummy because grandpa and grandma are Muggles?"

"No. I have nothing against your mother. And even less against her parents. My father was a Muggle. I never believed... in the purity of blood."

"You tried to make amends for your mistakes and you honestly regret it?"

He felt a slight smile stretching his lips. The little girl was obviously repeating a phrase she had heard before with an intonation that didn't sound like her.

"I did what I could and yes, I regretted it."

Rose gave him a huge smile.

"Then you are forgiven!"

She jumped out of her chair and went to get a book. She sat down in front of the warming fire and began to read. The conversation was obviously over for the little girl, to the dismay of Severus, who watched her for a moment before resuming his potion, a weight off of his shoulders.

* * *

"What are you doing, Miss Granger?"

The little girl was startled. She was sitting on her knees in front of her stuffed lion, looking stern, with her hands outstretched towards it. She raised her big innocent eyes to him.

"I'm practising magic without a wand."

Severus raised an eyebrow and sat down on the sofa in the teachers' lounge. A large christmas tree had just been placed in the corner of the room and the little girl liked to stay in the now very festive room.

"What are you trying to do?"

She wrinkled her nose and looked at her stuffed lion with a very concentrated look.

"I'm trying to get Leo, but I can't get him to come."

Rose finally let go of her arms, looking disappointed. She glanced at her hands with a betrayed look. The potion teacher had a slight smirk on his face. He crossed his legs.

"The first signs of magic often come by reflex."

She gave him a curious look.

"Reflex?"

"Usually it's a response to a bad emotion. To defend yourself when you are afraid... when you are angry... or to avoid danger."

"What was it for you?" she asked curiously.

"...it was my father."

Rose frowned and leaned forward to retrieve her lion.

"I don't have a dad, does that mean I won't do magic?"

Severus shaked his head.

"Everyone has their own trigger," he replied.

Finally the little girl stood up, her lion in her arms and went to sit in the big blue armchair she liked. She looked intensely at her cuddly toy.

"a trigger..." she whispered.

* * *

" Rose!"

He had just returned to the classroom after going out for 2 minutes to look for an ingredient in his stash. When he came back, his heart skipped a beat. The little girl had just dived from the top of the bookcase where she managed to climb. By reflex, his magic escaped from his hands before he could even understand the situation. 

A levitation spell hit the little girl and she stopped a few centimetres off the ground. Furious, he let go of his spell and the little girl was released on the thick carpet covering the floor. He came closer to her: 

"Can I know what's gotten into you?"

With eyes full of tears, the little girl gave him an accusing look.

"I want to do magic and you stopped me!"

"By jumping from the bookcase?!"

She crossed her arms in a sulky way.

"It was to make a trigger! You said I need a trigger..." she replied.

He felt his heart still beating strongly in his chest. The teacher sat down in one of his chairs, forcing a calm breath inside and out. The little girl's eyes filled with tears, her lip trembling. He ran his hand over his face and sigh.

"Miss Granger... you mustn't force these things. Your magic will be unleashed in due course. If you weren't ready, you could have hurt yourself. Badly." 

She began to nervously play with the folds of her dress, and seemed disturbed by Severus' almost worried tone. 

"You must no longer try to provoke a trigger. It will happen when the time is right." he added.

"But I want to do magic!" she protested softly.

"You will. When your magic is ready. Tell me that you won't try to endanger yourself on purpose."

She chewed her lip, hesitantly, but finally nodded her head.

"Okay, I promise..."

He sighed with relief and then had a small laugh.

"There's no doubt you'll be a Gryffindor like your mother, Miss Granger."

The little girl pouffed behind her hands and got up to return to her lion. Suddenly she let out a surprised little cry and turned towards him.

"That's the first time you've called me Rose!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go :)
> 
> This chapter work with the next one. you have seen the evolution of Severus with the first Miss granger,in the next chapter you will see the evolution of Severus' relationship with the second miss granger
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter, what would you like to see in the next chapters ?
> 
> Have a nice week end !


	4. Weeks after weeks - part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter go with the last one, it is a mirror of it but with th oldest Granger.  
> I hope you will like if and I am moved by the already 115 kudos... Thanks to all of you, it motivates me to continue writing and gives me a little more confidence in my "work".
> 
> I hope this new chapter will please you !

**Chapter 4 : Weeks after Weeks part 2**

"Your daughter asked me what was the word engraved in your arm."

Hermione had just arrived to pick up her daughter who, after kissing her mother and saying goodbye to Severus, had already snuck out into the corridor. Hermione stood at the opening of the portrait, watching her daughter attentively as he spoke to her and when what he said finally caught her, she gave him a surprised look. She had big hazelnut eyes that reminded her of the youngest Granger. He cleared his throat.

"I was then forced to explain her things about the second war.... and the ideas of blood’s purity."

"Oh. I should have told her about it as soon as she saw me without my bandage. Sorry about that."

She shivered and rubbed her arm to chase away the goose bumps and warm herself against the coolness that inhabited the place in that damp November. Severus frowned.

"Don't you want to know what I said to her?"

Hermione smiled and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Why? Did you advocate the importance of pure blood to my five years old daughter?"

"Of course I didn't."

"Then why do you want me to question you?"

The witch started walking towards her daughter. She finally turned around with a small smile on her lips.

"I’m not going to ask you, you are the best liar of the country. I'm going to ask her." with that said she started walking again.

Severus leaned against the door frame of the potion room where he had looked after the little girl. He watched the Grangers move away, the mother easily lifting her daughter, pointing and talking with the various paintings.

He shook his head... The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

* * *

"Rose told me that she spoke with you about the role of the Slytherin in the war?"

Severus gave her a black look and abruptly closed his book.

"Indeed, your daughter seemed to have the distinct impression that all the Slytherins were evil. No wonder where she heard that."

Hermione frowned at the potion teacher's aggressiveness.

"Beg your pardon?"

He folded his arms, keeping an icy look on his face.

"If that's what you think, you shouldn't leave her with a Slytherin once a week".

The young woman's incomprehension turned into anger and she imitated the position of the man sitting in front of her.

"I have never said anything like this to my daughter" she replied, her nose raised. 

"Oh really? It's true that she's around a lot of people besides your close circle of friends," he said sarcastically.

Hermione put her hands on her hips, still offended.

"I'll have you know that I took her to Neville's yesterday and we ran into a group of 5th years who shouted that at a group of Slytherin. I immediately punished them for that. I can't believe you would think I would teach this kind of things to my daughter!"

"You have an easy post-war life Granger, you've always been on the right side and in the right house. You wouldn't be the first to think that and teach your children to be wary of snakes."

"I am perfectly aware of the importance of the help of certain Slytherins during the war and the negative role of certain Gryffindors. The house has nothing to do with it and I educate my daughter with respect for people and the importance of giving a second chance to anyone who regrets theirs actions!"

Severus didn't answer, his jaw tightened, his eyes became less cold. 

"And I'm not stupid Snape. I wouldn't leave my daughter with you if I didn't trust you to keep her and to pass on good values to her in such cases. She needs to learn tolerance and non-judgment and who better to do that than a person who suffered the opposite for years."

This time he looked away, she even had the impression that he was embarrassed by her reflections. She sighed.

"Listen. I don't know why, but Rose adores you, she only talks about you and looks forward to every Tuesday. I think you're a good influence on her."

He lets out a mocking laugh without looking at her.

"I mean it. She needs to be around all kinds of people to develop properly and I see her becoming more and more curious and interested in the world around her and I appreciate that you are part of her world".

She let him digest her words for a short while and he ended up giving her a look in the corner. He didn't seem to know what to say and she knew that she had impacted him in some way. She suddenly felt embarrassed and chewed her own lips. 

"I'll bring Rose to you next Tuesday."

Without waiting for an answer from her, the young woman turned around and walked out of the room, her heart beating wildly in her chest, nervous without knowing why.

* * *

"Your daughter seems interested in the emergence of magical powers in wizards and the possible abilities of Muggles or Squibs."

The potion teacher gently placed his cup of tea on the side table beside him. Granger was sitting on the sofa in front of him and had spent the evening chatting with the professor of Arithmancy who had finally left the room. She was in the spot closest to the fireplace. Winter and snow had finally settled and she was enjoying the fire. Severus was sitting in his usual armchair, reading a very interesting book about the similarities between vampirism and lycanthropy. 

At their side, Minerva and Flitwick were concentrated in a wizard's chess game. Severus had no doubt that Minerva would win again. A little further on Pomona and Neville were discussing with Hagrid about certain plants that were becoming less and less common in the forbidden forest as a result of climate change. On the other side of the room, the Muggle studies professor was showing some non-magical toys to the young Rose who was giggling with pleasure in front of a noisy little pink-furred creature. 

Hermione poured herself a cup of tea and retrieved one of the cinnamon biscuits from the silver platter left each evening by the elves at Hogwarts.

"I think it disturbs her that she can't do magic and live in a place like Hogwarts".

Severus shrugged his shoulders slightly. 

"All children from magical families are frustrated at one time or another not to be able to do magic. It will pass." 

Hermione nodded in pensive approval. 

"It's hard to make a child understand the importance of being able to do things in a muggle way or the importance of work when they know that at some point they'll just have to wave their wand to tidy up their room or copy an entire book for their homework. Maybe I should ask Molly how she did it with her children...".

She looked up at him and he realised that she was expecting an answer from him. He raised his usual eyebrow.

"Do I look like a family counsellor now? If that the case, please let me know so I can change that."

Surprised by his answer, she let out a small laugh and watch her daughter play with the strange creature. Severus could see in the corner of his eyes, Minerva looking up from her almost won chess game to give them a curious look. Hermione put a lock of hair back behind her ear. 

"You're right," she replied, with a mischievous smile, "What an idea it would be to have a conversation about something other than work."

He felt himself smiling back at her and brought his cup to his lips again.

"Totally unthinkable."

* * *

"Rose has been nagging me for two days to give her a book on how to do magic without a wand."

Severus sighed, a cloud of smoke leaving his lips in the freezing cold of late November. They were now on their way up to the owlery. He had begun the journey to send an order of endemic ingredients from Madagascar when the Gryffindor joined him for the ride. It was a Sunday morning and Severus had no doubt for a moment that her daugther was in the teachers' room, guarded by a probably very happy Minerva.

"Your daughter wanted to know why you wouldn't give her a wand."

"And you explained to her the studies showing that it blocks the development of magical abilities and that she must first express her wandless magic."

He nodded to confirm and glanced at the witch at his side. She was breathless from the cold wind and was blowing on her fingers to warm them. She was wrapped in a large blue woollen coat with a hood and a huge scarf in the colours of gryffindor.

She let out a small laugh, some of her hair leaving her bun and her cheeks reddened by the temperature. 

"Knowing how stubborn she is, don't be surprised if you see her practicing her wandless magic abilities for hours."

* * *

"Sev was a bad guy, but he feels bad about it so we have to forgive him."

Severus grunted, dropping his head on the back of the sofa as she let out a small laugh at his reaction. 

He had been quiet all evening, alone in the teachers' room, all the others preferring to enjoy the first snows of the year. He drank a whisky over the fire after the discussion he had with Rose which bringed back a lot of bad memories. It was late and he was watching the fire dancing in the fireplace.

He hadn't heard the oldest Granger enter the room before her superb imitation of her daughter. He wondered for a moment where the little girl was, but did not ask. 

He felt the witch sitting gently on the opposite side of the sofa as she spoke again.

"My daughter is starting to know far too much about this war."

The tone wasn't reproving but his bad mood got the better of him.

"If your daughter were less curious, she wouldn't know as much, and if you're worried about it, you shouldn't have your daughter looked after by a Death Eater."

He finished the rest of his whisky in one go, the tranquillity of the evening now spoiled. He saw her give him a surprised look and she looked at his glass. He fought the urge to throw the glass into the fireplace and leave the room. She cleared her throat and added.

"Quite the opposite. She needs to know that no one is perfect and that even her favorite adult may have made bad choices in life."

He frowned when she picked up his glass to get him a refill on a firewhisky. Then frowned even more when she poured two glasses, pouring herself a drink. She continued without waiting for an answer from him.

"I spent my childhood in pursuit of perfection. We've all seen the result."

"The best school grades in generations and a woman recognized as a hero of her time."

She put his drink beside him.

"A woman who worked years in the Ministry's archive, known only for past achievements and not for her current skills. A fair-ground attraction that you want to see as a guest at your table but that you don't want to hire. A single, unmarried, not widowed, woman with a child. “

She took a big sip from her glass, wincing from the alcohol.

"I find it hard to believe how misogynistic the magical world still is. As soon as a woman has a child without a husband, she becomes unworthy of respect..."

She put her half-full glass on the side-table beside his own, he saw her bring her fingers to her eyes, probably wiping away a rising tear. In a heavy silence, she turned around and left the room, leaving Severus alone with her glass. 

Maybe he wasn't the only one haunted by ghosts from the past.

* * *

"Your daughter spent an hour sitting in a suit trying to lift her lion with her mind."

She turned abruptly towards him at his words. They were at the banquet table, unusually seated next to each other because Filius was away for the evening. It was the last evening before the Christmas holidays and Hermione was exceptionally eating in the large hall and not with her daughter in their quarters. He wondered for a moment who could keep her this time. 

Hermione shook her head, a smile on her lips. 

"Again? I don't know whether to be impressed or worried."

Severus raised his glass of wine and watched the students in his house in front of him. 

"That question, Miss Granger, is the question I ask myself all the time about both the Granger women I know."

* * *

"My daughter told me at least a hundred times that you finally called her Rose."

The little girl in question was playing with an aviatomobile that George Weasley had given her for her birthday the month before. Without raising his head from the scroll, Severus replied.

"Did she tell you that her name escaped me when she was obviously trying to kill herself?"

"W-What?!" the mother yelled out.

Severus winced in response to the high-pitched shriek of the mother sitting on the large communal table not far from him, correcting her own papers. At the other end of the room, Pomfresh and Aurora looked up at them curiously and Severus sighed.

"A choice of words a little too alarming, I admit."

"What happened?!"

He laid his squill to deal with the now really alarmed witch. 

"Your daughter found that the best way to finally do wandless magic was to jump from the top of a bookcase."

"W-what ? Wait. She climbed up the bookcase?! Where were you?!"

"I left the room for a minute to retrieve an ingredient from the adjoining storeroom. I suspect your daughter is a master in teleportation. Congratulations." he says sarcastically.

Hermione sighed and relaxed a little.

"I don't know what to do with her urge to do magic anymore..." she replied dejectedly.

"If I were you I would hope that her magic would appear quickly before she tries another stunt. I made her promise not to try again but I have only limited trust in the word of a witch of her age".

Hermione ran one hand over her hair to put it back in place and let out a disconcerting laugh.

"You should know she only does this sort of thing with you..."

Severus raised a surprised eyebrow to the Gryffindor.

“... I'm terribly flattered" he finally replied.

The burst of laughter from the witch sitting in front of him brought a wry smile to his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks every one to read me again. 
> 
> Hope you will like it and are not to much disapointed by this Roseless chapter ^^
> 
> Let me know what you think about it and have a nice week end all of you


	5. Chrismas, magic and affection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wont be abble to do it this week end so please, find my next chapter before the week end.  
> As always, I can't thank you enough for the kudos and the comments, it is so nice to read <3  
> I hope you will also like this chapter !

**Chapter 5 : Christmas, magic and affection**

Christmas was coming fast. 

Filius was becoming more and more insufferable, imposing more and more of the festive atmosphere he likes so much. He was now spending all his time wearing a Santa Claus hat and humming festive tunes. Pomona, Neville and Poppy seemed to want to cover every edge of walls and furniture with garlands of enchanted fir or mistletoe. Neville explained to everyone who came close what differentiates a naturally growing plant from a magically stimulated one, which he claimed to be much more fragile. Minerva had asked the kitchen elves to surpass themselves in festive meals and had chaperoned the decorations installed throughout the castle with particular attention. 

Little Granger was even more energetic than usual and spent her time playing in the snow or with the Christmas decorations and telling everyone what she hoped to have for Christmas. It consisted of a magic wand, a cat, a magic wand, a winged horse and a magic wand.

"What about you Sev? What do you want for Christmas?!"

Severus rubbed his temples, too much joy and enthusiasm in the castle gave him a headache.

"Peace."

The little girl ignored his bad mood and leaned into his armchair.

"Mommy and I are going to Grandma and Grandpa's this year, and you where are you going?"

"I'm staying at the castle,."

"But... you will be alone?"

"Unfortunately not."

Minerva appeared at their side and put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Some teachers and pupils are staying in the castle for Christmas. Severus will be with us."

"Are you staying here too, Min?"

"Yes, I am."

"Perfect ! You'll be with Sev then!"

The headmistress gave an amused look to the potion teacher's anoyed look. 

"I'm sure he will be as delighted as I am at the prospect." she added, amused.

The little girl gave them a huge smile and wished them a good night when her mother called her to go home.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve and the teachers staying at Hogwarts were gathered in the teachers' common room. Severus faced Minerva in a chess match and knew full well that he had already lost. Minerva was undoubtedly one of the best players he knew and he himself was not passionate about the game. The insistence of the witch plus the two whiskies he had drunk had motivated him to play.

"Miss Granger told me that she and her daughter would spend next Christmas here" she announced in a happy voice.

Severus moved his knight. He and Minerva preferred a non-wizard version of the game.

"It will be nice to have a child in the castle at this time of year, won't it be?"

He glanced at her interrogatingly, not knowing where his colleague wanted the conversation to go. She took one of his pawns with her bishop, forcing him to protect his king with one of his rooks. Minerva looked at him curiously and he frowned, still not sure of what to say.

"It's almost too quiet without Hermione and Rose here," she added as if to encourage him.

He sighed and laid his king down as a sign of abandonment.

"Indeed."

* * *

He had sent two gifts to the youngest Granger, a learning book of Potion for Children and a storybook that he read a lot when he was a child and that his own mother read when she was herself a child. He hadn't taken anything for the oldest Granger and wondered for a moment if he should have. 

As for Severus, he had had, as he did every year, a bottle of single malt whisky, some rarer books and objects under evil spells to study and a magnificent set of knives in silver from France from Minerva. He was always surprised at the amount of presents he had had since the end of the war. He must every year find a good number of gifts to offer back. A new chessboard with rare wood essence for Minerva, a first leather edition of Charms of Defence and Deterrence for Filius, seeds of rare plants from Madagascar for Pomona, for Pompom an enchanted bracelet to warn when a poison is present in a sick person and few other things.

This year, however, he had received one more package than usual, it was a storage box filled with rare ingredients of draconic origin. With this chest was a letter and a parchment. 

The letter came from the oldest Granger who wanted to thank him for what he was doing for her daughter and explained that Miss Lovegood was engaged to the Scamander heir who had helped her find these ingredients. Little Granger also wished him a Merry Christmas. He unrolled the second parchment to find a child's drawing on it. It was a tall stick man covered in black with a small stick figure around a cauldron. The drawing was a normal children's drawing but as much non-proportional and simple it was, this gift moved Severus more than any of the other gifts. 

* * *

The students had been back at Hogwarts for some time and the castle was deserted, not because of the holidays, but because of the classes that had resumed. Severus was sitting in the teachers' common room watching the little girl playing with an animated winged horse figure. 

Suddenly she put down her animal and turned towards him. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for the question to come.

"Sev, can we go outside? I want to play in the snow"

He frowned and scraped his throat. He wasn't used to the little girl asking to go out, she usually wanted to lock herself up with him in the dungeons to make potions. She sat down on her heels and looked at him with begging eyes.

"Please, Sev"

Knowing full well that he had already lost, he sighed and stood up. 

"Go and get your coat".

The little girl put on her coat, her scarf and a cap with cat's ears while he put on his long black woollen coat. He opened the door and the little girl rushed down the corridor, trotting towards the central courtyard. He had no trouble following her and when the little girl arrived at her destination, the snow cover was still intact from the night. She jumped into thirty centimetres of powder snow and let out a little cry of joy. Severus murmured a warming spell in the corner where a bench was sitting and sat down on it with his legs crossed.

"Sev! Look!"

The little girl lay on her back and made a snow angel. Severus shook his head slightly. The children's enthusiasm left him speechless sometimes. 

Soon he got lost in his thoughts, concentrating on ideas for optimising potions. He paid no attention to the silence in the courtyard and it was when he heard a small laugh that he looked up for the little girl. She was standing not far from him, a snowball in her hand that she was about to throw to him.

He raised one hand, casting a spell to stop the ball in the air. The little girl watched the snowball with a gawking mouth and then a sulky lip came out.

"Sev! That's not fair! I can't do magic!"

Severus smiled and gently tossed the ball back to the little girl who bent over to avoid it. She straightened up and put her hands on her hips, showing a great resemblance to her mother at that moment.

"You're not funny!"

"Indeed."

* * *

It was February and the sun was shining through the stained glass windows of the classrooms. Severus was making an order of various antidotes for St Mungo while the little girl was reading the book he had given her for Christmas. He could hear her whispering the tale word by word and sometimes he would help her on words a little difficult for her. He was surprised how much he still remembered these stories. She suddenly stopped in the middle of a tale, stopping to read after saying the word "brooms". 

After a few seconds of silence, he looked up to observe the little girl who seemed to be looking at the book without reading it. He stopped his manipulations, knowing full well that a question was about to come. 

"Sev? What is quidditch? Mummy she just told me that it's a sport and you have to fly on a broom. I think godmother Ginny plays it."

"Why didn't you ask your Godmother then?"

The little girl shrugged her shoulders.

“I wanted to ask you"

Severus raised an eyebrow at this answer and finally answered. 

"It's a broom game. 7 players on each side, 3 different types of balls. You have to score the most points. Haven't you ever been to a game at Hogwarts?"

"No, but Mum says we will when she's head of the house."

Severus knew the young lady was still considered an apprentice this year, even though she was perfectly capable of holding her position on her own. The following year she would officially be a teacher and could therefore be Head of the House of Gryffindor, freeing Minerva from a role which went against the neutrality that the Headmaster of Hogwarts should normally have. Severus knew that, unlike her predecessors, Minerva would be far more objective towards her students, regardless of their homes.

"It'll be next school year then."

"Could you take me there?"

"No. It's up to your mother to decide whether to take you or not, it's sometimes dangerous."

"But -"

"That's a no, Miss Granger. No need to insist."

She made a sulky face and went back to her book.

* * *

Hermione was rubbing her cold hands when she saw her daughter running away in the corner of her eye.

"Rose, wait for me!"

She had just run away on the path she had taken every Tuesday morning for a few months now. Without listening to her mother, she turned at the end of the hallway and started running down the stairs. She arrived at the bottom of the stairs and prepared to jump the last step. A well-known ghost came out from behind her and pulled the carpet from the stairs with a loud laugh. At the top of the stairs Hermione speeded up 

"Peeves! Stop!"

The little girl, caught by her momentum and pulled back by the carpet, fell forward and let out a frightened scream. She tensed up, stretching her hands forward and her eyes closed, waiting for the shock.

The shock didn't come and she opened her eyes in surprise.

She was horizontal, in the air, her hands a few centimetres above the ground. She turned her head towards her mother, who must have cast a levitation spell, but when she saw her, she looked extremely surprised, the wand brandished.

"Rose?"

Rose felt something fade and she fell to the ground gently. She got down on her knees

"Mum?"

The poltergeist was flying above the ground.

"Haha, the kid's doing magic, not even funny, not even a little scratch!"

The little girl jumped on her feet and walked up the stairs to her mother.

"Mommy! I did magic!"

Hermione took her in her arms and hugged her.

"I saw sweetie, I'm proud of you."

"Hurry! I've got to tell Sev!" 

* * *

Severus held back a smile when he saw the little girl sitting on her heels again, her hands outstretched towards her lion. It had been a week since she had performed magic for the first time and she had been trying to master wand-free spells ever since. He had already told her that it was almost impossible to master spells at her age, but she had told him that if he could do wand-free magic without any problem then she could do it with some practice as well. 

He had nothing to answer to this logic and watched her trying to move her lion every day ever since.

She ended up resting her arms, visibly frustrated. She got up, picked up her lion with a betrayed look on her face and laid it carelessly on the sofa before standing up next to Severus. 

At this moment, the new teacher of defence against the dark arts passed his head in the room.

"Severus, Hermione asked me to warn you that she'll be late, she has to take a pupil to the infirmary, I'll join her." he explained quickly.

"Tell Miss Granger she can find me here afterward."

The 40-year-old wizard nodded and quickly walked out, the sound of his heels reasoning in the corridor. Both him and Rose looked for a little time at the door, then the girl’s brown eyes watched him.

"Sev? Why are you calling mummy Miss Granger?"

He raised his eyebrow.

"Because that's her name?" he replied ironically.

"Min, Nev, Fil call her Hermione, she call you Severus, you call me Rose," she listed as if to remind herself.

Not knowing how to answer, he cleared his throat and chose the university method.

"In Anglo-Saxon countries, the use of the family name is a sign of formality, or respect. The first name is a sign of familiarity and affection."

The little girl didn't answer, looking for a conclusion to this improvised lesson.

"So you call mummy Miss Granger because you don't like her."

She looked at him with big eyes without any judgment. He felt the need to deny this wrong conclusion.

"No, that's not it."

"Then what is it?" The little girl insisted.

"I've known your mother for years, I just never stopped calling her that."

"Well, you could call her Hermione then?"

"...possibly."

The little girl smiled mischievously, she put her hands on the sofa and leaned towards him.

"I won't tell Mummy you have 'affection' for her", she whispered.

Severus again was about to deny the little girl's conclusion when Hermione breathlessly entered the room.

"Sorry I'm late."

The little girl jumped off the sofa and trotted towards her mother. She turned towards Severus and put her index finger to her lips as a sign that she would keep her "secret".

The two women disappeared and Severus dropped his head backwards onto the back of the sofa. Only Merlin could understand how the kid's brain worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thanks a lot for reading !  
> I would love to read what you think of it ! I trully hope you liked it, anyway thanks again and have a nice week end !


	6. Nightmares, friends and holiday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it... so much comments, kudos and hits, I'm so gald for it.  
> Thanks you so much for everything, I'm loving every kudos and comments!
> 
> Please, find the new chapter and I hope you will enjoy it.

**CHAPITRE 6 - Nightmares, friends and holiday**

Severus was sitting in the teachers' common room. It had been dark for several hours and his insomnia did not pass, he decided to go out and the habit led him to this room. He carried his cold glass of alcohol to his forehead and sighed when the touch lightly relieved his migraine.

It was the middle of March and the sudden and repeated changes in the weather made his scars and dark mark painful. He had opened the collar of his shirt to relieve the pressure of the collar on his wound and had rolled up his sleeves to rub and watched the mark, now greyish and immobile. 

He heard the door open and looked up into the room lit only by the fireplace and candles.

Hermione Granger stood with her arms around her body. Her hair was held in a thick braid. She was wearing loose fabric pants and a hoodie in the Gryffindors’ colors. She had a brief moment of surprise when she saw him but hid her emotions. She stayed for a moment at the entrance of the room, probably hesitating about what she should do. Finally, she walked to the pedestal table where a few flasks of alcohol were placed and she helped herself to a glass of clear alcohol. Silently, she went and sat down on the sofa beside him.

"Sorry, I thought no one would be there."

Severus remained silent for a few seconds, spinning the amber whisky in the crystal and then before asking.

"Where is your daughter?"

"At Harry and Ginny's, she wanted to go see the baby."

The young woman at his side had her eyes lost in the fire. The Potters had had their first child a few months earlier. It had made the headlines and he had seen the picture of the Potters trying to sneak out of the St. Mongo nursery on every newspaper for a few days. 

Hermione brought her own glass to her lips and took a big sip of the alcohol. She seemed to be a shadow of herself at this moment, looking pale and tired. She took a deep shaky breath.

"Do they eventually disappear?" she asked.

He frowned and took off the glass that he was still pushing to his forehead to take a sip of the amber liquid. He then put the glass on the armrest on the sofa, letting his fingers slide over the rim of it.

"What are you talking about?" he finally asked.

The young woman took another sip and nervously chewed her lip.

"The nightmares."

Severus froze for a moment before sighing and getting up. He delicately took the glass from her hands and went to serve her what she had poured, he recognized the gin flask. While he still turned his back to her, he answered.

"No, they don't."

He went over to her and slipped the glass into her hands, with the alcohol level back to its original one. He continued.

"They're getting scarce. But don't go away."

She remained silent for long minutes as he sat down on the sofa, watching the flames dance. She shivered and blew on her fingers to warm them. 

"No one talks about it. The war is over. People are moving on. We feel like we're the only ones who can't." she blew.

He looked at her for a moment before staring at the wall above her shoulder. He cleared his throat.

"I do not know anyone who does not have ightmares from the war. Everyone is traumatized in some way. Some hide it better than others."

Hermione felt her eyes fill with tears and she wiped them with the sleeves of her hoodie. He looked away.

"It gets easier with time. It's always there. But it's softened by the years and other memories."

She nodded her head and put her glass on the table next to the sofa. She lifted her legs to slide them under her, comfortably settling on the sofa. They remained, silent, in the room. Hermione felt more and more tired. She sighed, the room was warm, it was comfortable and the potion teacher was silent by her side. A discreet but reassuring presence. Without even realizing it, she finally fell asleep.

She didn't wake up until the early hours of the morning, when a young house elf appeared in the room and apologized a thousand times for waking her up. She stood up, reassured the elf and put her hand on the green blanket that had been placed on top of her, smiling a little.

* * *

Several weeks had gone by without any other significant events and especially without Hermione or Severus talking about that evening. Severus went down to the teachers' room. He was holding his last book under his arm, just wanting to settle down in his usual chair, perhaps for a drink. 

"Sev!”

He had just entered the room when he heard a now very familiar voice shouting his name. He looked with surprise at the little girl running towards him. He wasn't used to seeing her in that room at that time. She threw herself as usual into his legs and gave him her big smile.

"I'm so happy, Uncle Harry and Aunty Ginny are here with baby James!"

Severus frowned and looked up. Harry Potter looked at him with an extremely surprised look on his face. His gaze shifted from him to the little girl still clinging to his legs. Beside her was the last of the Weasley's, now Potter, holding a baby in her arms and Hermione shaking her head as she looked at Potter.

"Rose is constantly talking about 'Sev'. What did you think?" he heard her say.

"It's one thing to hear it, Hermione, but it's another to see it..."

Severus rolled his eyes. He could see Weasley put the baby, a few months old, against her, looking at the room. He already had a good head of disheveled black hair and was watching Hermione with a terribly serious face. Ginevra greeted him politely, giving him a frank smile. Severus politely nodded his head in response. Ginevra Weasley had been a motivated and willing student. She had also earned his respect in her later years when she had joined the Hogwarts resistance. Potter ran his hand through his still disheveled hair and greet him quickly.

He felt the little girl pull on the sides of his pants.

"Sev! Jimmy, he's six months old! He's so cute, but you have to be careful, he's small!" 

Severus raised an eyebrow in response. He raised his head to look at the adult trio. Potter still seemed to be as nervous as befproe ever and sighed. He stepped back, freeing himself from the little girl and prepared to turn to the exit.

"Good evening."

"Severus, we don't want to chase you away. Please stay," he turned to her and she smiled at him.

Between the mother who was waiting for his answer and the little girl who looked at him with big eyes, he sighed and gave in, something that was becoming unfortunately usual. 

He went to sit in the chair he considered his and raised an eyebrow at the little girl who leaned against his armrest. She told him at full speed about the day she had spent with the Potter family. Playing games with her godfather, cooking with her godmother. As usual he did not answer except for a few glances and as usual this did not bother the little girl who continued her story.

Severus remained tense because he regularly felt Potter's gaze on him. After a few minutes he cracked, giving him his coldest look. Harry blushed and looked away at Minerva, who had just entered the room with Filius. They greeted him warmly and then his wife before starting to gurgle in front of the baby. Rose went to join them, wanting to take part in the grouping and Severus sighed, he was finally alone and quiet, he opened his book. 

For almost an hour, the group of teachers who were growing steadily, the Granger family with the girl on her mother's lap and the Potter family had gathered around the table, usually covered with copies from different teachers. He finally heard with pleasure the signs of the Potters' departure and could see a silhouette standing in front of him. He looked up. It was the new mother looking at him with a smile, her baby in her arms. Her husband stood behind her, watching the scene. 

"Professor Snape, Harry and I are about to leave and we wanted to say goodbye."

His good manners caught up with him and he stood up. His gaze was drawn to the baby who looked calmly at him with big green eyes. His little head was covered with black hair in all directions and Severus sniffed, amused.

"The Potter genes are strong," he says.

Ginny laughed and ran her hand through her son's hair, immediately understanding what the professor meant.

"Indeed, the spitting image of his father. Not the slightest reddish reflection. I just hope he won't get into so much trouble. I wish you a good evening, professor."

He nodded his head as a sign of goodbye.

"Mrs. Potter."

The young woman turned to her husband and seemed to glare at him. He ran his hand through his hair and finally gathered his courage as a gryffindor.

"Good evening professor"

Severus crossed his arms and frowned. He could see from the corner of his eye Rose watching them curiously. 

"Potter." he finally said.

* * *

The anniversary of the end of the war was coming up again. It had been one year since Rose had entered Severus' life. He was walking down a corridor, away from the large hall where the reception was held. He had seen enough people for a while. He couldn't understand how Minerva had managed to persuade him to come.

"I just don't understand, that's all," said a complaining voice.

"You don't have to understand anything about it," a woman's voice replied angrily.

Severus frowned, he easily recognized Hermione's voice, but the second male voice, although familiar, was still not identified for him.

"You know I saw your daughter at Harry's house and she kept talking about him."

"They spend a lot of time together, Ronald."

Severus approached the door leading to the voices. He now knew that he was the last son of the Weasleys. Fame had gone to his head after the war and he had been seen absolutely everywhere in newspapers and magazines. That had calmed down for some time. Severus couldn't say whether it was because of public boredom or because the young man had changed. He remembered the headlines in the newspapers after the highly publicized break-up of the gryffindor duo.

"And don't you worry about him spending time with your daughter?! Yes, he helped out during the war but that doesn't make him a good man and you leave your daughter alone with him!"

He frowned at the tone the young man used.

"You have absolutely nothing to say about that! How dare you imply anything like that? Severus is an important person in Rose's life."

"You call him Severus now?"

He leaned against the wall, preferring to stay close if things got any worse. And mostly because he was curious.

"Of course I do. He's my colleague! He's looking after my daughter! Can I know what is your problem ?"

"I'm worried about you, Mione."

"Oh no, Ronald, you lost the right to ‘Mione’ me when you ignored me for months! You don't come into my life and tell me how to raise MY daughter!"

He wanted to smile when he heard the venom in the voice of the young mother, a real lioness.

"Someone has to tell you what you're doing wrong!"

"Excuse me?! What I am doing wrong?! What about when you abandoned me AGAIN?! When you couldn't accept what happened to me?! You weren't there when I needed you the most, so no, I don't want your opinion!"

"Mione, I-"

"Oppugno!"

The spell reasoned in the room and he could hear movements like the beating of wings.

"Oww - Stop! We're not 15 - Ow! Mione! Hermione stop!"

The wing noise became louder. He heard the young man attempt an annulment spell that did not calm anything. The young man eventually left the room after a few seconds of fighting and ran away, wanting to get out of the spell’s range. Severus laughed quietly at the scene and waited for a few seconds, giving the young woman time before entering the classroom. She was leaning against a desk in her long red dress, one hand on her forehead. 

"I'm surprised, you? Ruining books? Even if it is to throw them against Weasley number 6."

She raised her head, surprised to see him, and let out an irritated laugh. 

"He always tends to want to be a knight in shining armor at the worst times and for the worst reasons."

Severus leaned back at the desk in front of her.

"The Weasleys have many qualities, but subtlety and the ability to see when they go too far are not some of them."

"It's an understatement to say... Aren't you at the party?"

"Be at a charity party when I can see you bewitching books to attack a Weasley... something I've always wanted to do? What an absurd idea."

A frank and honest laugh reasoned through the empty halls of the castle.

* * *

Severus and Hermione were assigned to help Filius keep an eye on the N.E.W.T spell exams. The number of teachers present to monitor had increased since the Weasley’s store started to sell cheating quills. 

Severus stood at the entrance to the large room with his hands behind his back, watching the room and enjoying watching some students turn around to look at him with a stressed look. Hermione joined him silently and imitated his pose next to him. After a few seconds, she let out an amused breath and leaned over to whisper to him.

"Even though I'm not a student anymore, I'm always so stressed during exam time."

Severus smiled and answered.

"Not very surprising coming from someone whose Boggart was the announcement of failing the exams.

She turned to him with big eyes.

"How do you know about that?"

"It was my job to know everything, Miss Granger."

She raised an eyebrow and gave him an amused look.

"Then you know what Neville's Boggart was and what he did with it."

She had to restrain herself from laughing when she saw Severus' face close and tinged with irritation. 

"Very well. Let's not talk about it any more," he said before he began to circle the room, his wizard's cloak lifted by the movement.

* * *

"Sev!"

Severus looked up from his book. It was the last week before school ended and Hermione was now totally free to take care all the time of her daughter, her classes having covered the entire program in advance.

The little girl ran to him followed by her amused mother. She climbed up on the sofa next to him and Hermione smiled at him.

"She insisted on coming to see you before we went on vacation"

"Mommy and I are leaving for France tomorrow morning, early, we're going to asparate-"

"apparate"

"- apparate to grandpa and grandma's and then we'll take the car then the ferry and the the car again!"

He lift an eyebrow, surprised at the long journey.

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know!" the young girl answered quickly.

Hermione sat in the chair in front of them and answered calmly.

"The two months, I have a whole branch of the family there and we're going to go around and introduce them to Rose."

"Sev, I've never been to France! What about you?"

"I went a few times."

The little girl got on her knees to be at his level and jumped in excitation.

"So cool! You could come with us then!"

Severus looked at the mother and saw, amused inside, the surprise and embarrassment on her face. 

"Maybe some other time," he replied, a smile in his voice.

* * *

Hermione had packed all their belongings into her enchanted bag and was holding her daughter's hand. They were both leaving for Hogsmeade from where they could apparate as the first stop on their journey to France. They had walked a few yards when the little girl took her hand away from his.

"Wait! Mummy!"

Hermione turned around to see her daughter running towards the castle. She nearly called her back when she saw the direction Rose was heading to. The little girl was running towards a tall black figure, leaning against the frame of the castle’s big gate. 

Her daughter threw herself unceremoniously into the person's legs and she could imagine her daughter saying goodbye to the potion teacher once again.

She was astonished when she saw the potion teacher's hand resting on her daughter's head, which was still wrapped around her legs, to return the embrace. Severus was taking extremely good care of her daughter but it was the first real movement of affection towards her that she could see. 

Rose turned around, radiant and ran to her as Hermione felt her heart clenched in her chest. She felt strangely moved by the teacher's affection for her daughter. She raised her eyes and for a moment crossed the man's gaze. She smiled at him and waved goodbye with her hand, encouraging her daughter to do the same. 

She thought she was dreaming, but she was sure she saw the teacher smiling back and nodding goodbye before turning around and disappearing into the castle.

"Happy Holidays Sev!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is, I hope you liked it. Already a year in the story ! Next Chapter will be the vacation and how every one feel it and maybe realise what they mean to each other !
> 
> Leave a little judo or comment if you want, it will please me a lot.
> 
> Have a nice week !


	7. holiday, letters and cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Severus learn how it feels to be away for a while and it's not that easy. But is it really that easy for Hermione ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I can't thank you enough for the nice comments and kudos... I always feel like I blush when I have a new one and every comments make me want to squeek ^^
> 
> I really hope you will like it !

**CHAPTER 7 : holiday, letters and cat**

Hermione was sitting on her beach towel, sunglasses on her nose, her muggle book beside her, enjoying the weather and watching her daughter who had set herself the goal of reproducing Hogwarts as a sand castle with the help of little cousins. Hermione was in a one-piece swimming suit and had put Glamour on her various scars so that she would not have to suffer the stares or questions of anyone.

In the end, the strange questions came from her family and were not about her scars, her job or her lack of romantic life, but rather about the name that her daughter pronounced all day long.

"Sev he teaches me to do many things!” "Sev he reads me stories!” "Sev he's very, very, very, tall, but not as tall as Hagrid! »

Fortunately for Hermione, her daughter had understood that she should not talk to her cousins about magic and potions, even if she could talk about it to her grandfather and grandmother. It was especially the latter who had asked many questions to find out who could be the famous Sev that Rose talked so much about.

Hermione had spent long hours over a cup of tea and a croissant with her parents telling them what they wanted. She explained that it was her former potion teacher - yes, the very severe one - who had since been revealed as a war hero - yes, he had recovered well from his wounds - and for whom Rose had fallen. 

In the first months after the war, Hermione had put all her heart and energy, before and after her break-up, into undoing the amnesia spell she had cast on her parents. She had, back then, used her celebrity to ask for help from the world's leading experts in the field of memory manipulation to help her put back what she had disturbed and hidden. When her parents regained their memory after months of intensive work, they didn't hold a grudge against her for long even though they would have liked to be there for their heroine. They had then thrown themselves into the newspapers, stories, articles, describing the period they had not lived through. They were familiar with the story of Severus Rogue, double spy of the war, as well as his convalescence and judicial tribulations. 

No, she and Severus were not a couple. Yes, she trusted him completely to look after her daughter. No, she didn't know why Rose was so attached. No, she didn't expect a relationship with him. No, it wasn't like him at all to want to keep her daughter to get closer to her. 

She had to admit that the potion teacher had become a very important and stable person in her daughter's life but that this meant nothing more. Her mother had looked at her curiously but hadn't added anything. 

They were all on the beach, the grandfather helping his granddaughter with the construction when the subject came up again. Her mother was lying next to her, on her own beach towel, watching her husband and the little girl with a tender smile. 

"I am happy for you, Hermione".

Hermione cast a surprised glance at her mother.

"What do you mean?"

Her mother gave him a sad look, a slight smile on her lips, as if full of regret.

"You're so strong, so independent. Sometimes I don't know how to help you. You're so hard to help. You don't really let yourself be helped."

"Mum..."

"I'm glad you finally accepted help from someone. I was worried about you."

Hermione watched her mother, seeing the white hair that had grown on her head, the wrinkles that had appeared at the corner of her eyes. She seemed pensive but thenhappy. Suddenly her eyes turned mischievously towards her.

"And this Severus... is he handsome?"

The question, sudden and surprising, startled the young woman, who almost choked on her saliva. She felt herself blushing and was looking for an answer when her daughter unintentionally saved her.

"Mummy Mummy! We have to show my Hogwarts to Sev! »

* * *

Severus was in his personal laboratory in his old family home. He had been spending most of his summers there for years. Hogwarts was becoming increasingly flexible to allow teachers to spend more time in the castle but they had to leave the castle for at least a month. Minerva had told him that this was for maintenance work and rehabilitation of the protective spells. As if he couldn't be there for that...

He spent his time doing extensive potion research, testing new ideas for creation or improvement. He was in the process of fulfilling a large order of PepperUp potion. It was such a simple potion that it could quickly become boring, so he would accumulate 4 cauldrons at the same time to avoid moments of inactivity. He poured the last pinch of kampot red pepper into his oldest copper cauldron, one he had taken to Hogwarts at the time for his own studies.

He thought for a moment of the little girl who always asked to be the one to pour this last pinch into the cauldron because it caused a drastic change of colour in the potion. He could almost see her, on tiptoe, reaching out her arm to pour the pepper. He frowned. He wasn't used to thinking about outsiders during his potion sessions.

He cleaned his worktop with a wave of his hand and walked out of his laboratory, knowing that the potions would now have to stay on the fire all night to be the most effective. 

The week before, Minerva had come to visit him. It was a habit she had developed since he returned to Hogwarts. Whenever they didn't see each other for a while, she always made arrangements to come and see him. He knew that she felt guilty that she had resisted so much during his short time as headmaster, without understanding that he was really on their side. He had told her several times that if she had had the slightest doubt, it would probably have cost him his life, and hers. She also mentioned that she missed the Grangers very much and he teased her, saying with a teasing look that she was getting too sentimental with age.

He went to his living room to sit in front of the fire with a book. After about ten minutes he had to face the truth, he had not yet turned the page, he was preoccupied. He frowned again...

He had lost the habit of long weeks of silence and solitude and he had to admit it, if not to Minerva, at least to him, he missed the Grangers.

He closed his book with a sharp gesture.

"Merlin." 

It was going to be a long holiday.

* * *

"... and no longer runs after mice except for entertainment. »

Hermione gently closed the book after finishing one of her daughter's favourite tales of the moment. She leaned over to Rose to give her a good night kiss when the little girl spoke.

"Mummy?"

The young mother stood up and looked curiously at her daughter.

"Yes sweetie?"

"I miss Sev."

Hermione smiled and replaced a wild curl that was trying to escape from her daughter's head.

"That's normal, you saw him almost every day for a year. But you'll see him when we come back, and you'll have plenty to tell him. What you did with your cousins, all the places you visited, all the things you ate..."

Rose sighed and turned in her bed, turning her back sulkily on her mother. The answer had obviously not satisfied her. Hermione let out a small laugh and nodded her head in disbelief. She thought for a moment before asking.

"You know what we can do, Rose?"

Hermione leaned over her daughter and whispered in her ear, as if to tell her a secret.

"If you want tomorrow we can write him a letter, what do you say?"

The little girl got up in bed, her stuffed lion almost fell to the ground. 

"Really?!"

"Of course."

Hermione would not admit it to her daughter, but she too missed the presence of the potion teacher. He was one of the most interesting people for a scientific debate and with the most cynical humour she knew, he always kept her on her toes. Rose let out a happy little cry and threw herself at her mother's neck.

"But first of all, you have to go to bed," Hermione added.

"Yes, Mummy!"

Hermione watched her daughter lie down, held her with her lion in her arms and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night, sweetie.”

* * *

Severus was drinking a cup of black tea, no milk, no sugar, sitting in his living room reading and annotating a new article on the improvements of a healing potion specificaly for magic burn when he heard a little popping sound a few times.

He looked up and saw an Eurasian pygmy owl watching him through his windows. He went to open it, the bird jumped inside, releasing a little hoot. He went to fetch water and a small amount of food. It was a bird from the French delivery system, at least that’s what the animal's ring said. He retrieved the letter that was attached to it.

He went to his desk to take out a silver letter opener and cut out the clearly muggle envelope. 

It was a letter from the Grangers. It started with Hermione, who told her that her daughter had wanted to write to him, that everything was going well, but that she would like to send him letters and perhaps receive some in return. This was followed by some politeness and an address where he could reply. The next part of the letter was the mother writing for her daughter. The little girl told him about her holidays, what she was doing, what she was learning. 

It was a typical monologue of the little girl and, while this usually provoked no response from him, this time he picked up his pen, a piece of parchment paper and began to write his reply.

* * *

Hermione looked at her daughter who excitedly handed the letter, written on an elegant parchment, to her grandmother. She still couldn't believe that the potion teacher had answered their letter. She had been persuaded that the owl would not return, yet it had returned, and with a letter attached to its leg. 

The potion teacher had started with a polite sentence for her. Then he answered the little girl's questions in his usual, concise and not very descriptive manner. He then explained on hwich potions he was currently working on. 

The letter ended with a "Stay Safe, you and your mother" and his elegant signature. 

She could see her mother reading the letter and giving her an amused look. Hermione sighed, she didn't need to do Legilimancy to hear her ask again if she was really sure the man wasn't interested. She put her hand to his forehead. Rose jumped around her, already asking for an answer. 

The holidays were going to be long.

* * *

Eventually Hermione and Rose returned to the UK a little earlier than expected, leaving the grandparents in France with the family for a few more weeks. Hermione was now with her daughter at the Diagon Alley for the first time, she had a few errands to do in preparation for the coming year: materials for her classes, new clothes for her daughter who was growing up far too fast for her taste, new books, parchment and lots of other things.

After two hours of shopping, Rose was now frozen, refusing to move, in front of a shop that Hermione knew well and which gave her a little twinge of emotion. She was looking through the window of the Magical Menagerie where a white cat was watching her back. One of his eyes was amber and the other was sky blue. He was quietly looking at the little girl, lying on a shelf, his tail swaying gently from left to right.

"Rose, come on, let's go."

She bent down to take her daughter's hand and her daughter pulled her arm out.

"Mummy! Look at the cat! Can I have him?"

Hermione tried to drive her daughter away from the store.

"No sweetie, no animals this year, we'll wait a bit."

She still hadn't recovered from the sudden death of her cat just over a year earlier due to a heart problem and her own heart was still clenching at the thought of getting another pet. As they walked away she could feel the little girl never took her eyes off the cat. It was only when they could no longer see the cat that the little girl seemed to move on and start looking around her again.

Hermione took her daughter to the terrace of the shop formerly called Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. This shop had been bought shortly after the war, Emilie Fragrance ice cream, and was now just as popular as before. They moved in, waiting for Emilie to come and take their order. 

If Rose and Hermione had returned to the UK it was not for nothing or just to shop. A new government law had just been passed to oversee the welfare of the magic children.

As time went on, teachers and the government realised that the children who came to Hogwarts were not necessarily properly educated and the illiteracy rate was rising. The children could read but did not understand what they were reading, writing badly and other signs. From now on, children without proof of participation in a school or other education system recognised by the Ministry were required to take an examination to confirm that their education had progressed normally and sufficiently. 

Rose had just passed her first exam, Hermione was in no doubt about it, and they would receive the analyses from the government and the magic "social workers" in the coming weeks. 

Hermione was looking for a few coins in her bag to get ready to pay when she heard a little surprised scream. Her daughter's metal chair squeaked against the floor and she saw her run away. 

Frightened, Hermione let go of her things to try to stop her daughter, who slipped through her fingers and quickly disappeared into the crowd. 

"Rose!"

She got up, shoving a few people around, managing to keep her daughter's silhouette in sight as she slipped between the people, she set off in pursuit.

"Rose!"

She lost sight of her and felt panicky, everywhere she looked, all she saw were people shopping, sometimes people looking at her as if she was crazy, but she couldn't see her little girl's curls anymore. She kept sneaking into the crowd and she called out to her daughter again.

Suddenly the solution came to her in the form of a tall, black-dressed, long-haired figure standing next to the window of a shop. Quickly identifying this silhouette and immediately knowing where her daughter was, she ran towards him. The crowd finally seemed to move away in front of her and she could see her daughter, clinging to the legs of the silhouette, who was putting a hair loop back behind her daughter's ear as she was so used to doing. 

He looked up and could see her arriving in panic. The young woman threw herself on the little girl.

"Rose! Don't you ever do that to me again!"

She grabbed her daughter's shoulders and turned her towards him. Rose had a big smile on her lips.

"But Mommy, it's Sev!"

Hermione knelt down in front of her daughter and held her firmly.

"I do not care, I don't want you to leave like that without telling me ever again! It's not safe! Do you understand me?!"

Rose, sensing she had done something stupid, looked up at Severus who raised an eyebrow, obviously waiting for her answer and not defending her. She then looked at her mother again, who was looking at her seriously, her eyebrows furrowed. She realised she did something bad.

"Yes Mummy... sorry Mummy".

Hermione let out a sigh, finally relieved and held her daughter tightly against her, still feeling her heart beating in her chest. She stood up with one hand on her daughter's shoulder as if she feared that she would evaporate back into nature.

"Sorry," she laughed, "Hello Severus. How are you?"

"Probably better than you are at this very moment," he replied with a small smile. The little girl grasped the teacher's hand.

"Sev, we're having ice cream! Will you come with us?"

Hermione combed her own hair with her finger, waiting for his answer. It was good to see him again. She added.

"We're at Fragrances. We've got a lot of shopping to do before we take Hogwarts Express next week."

Severus raised his usual eyebrow.

"Are you taking the train on the 19?" he asked.

"Yes indeed," she replied.

Rose pulled her hand out again to attract the attention of the tall man.

"And you Sev?! When are you taking the train?"

He had a slight smile on his lips. Certainly expecting a sharp reaction from the little girl.

"The same day"

Rose let out a shout of joy and grasped Severus' hand more firmly to pull it. 

"Come! I have to tell you a lot of things!"

Hermione and Severus looked at each other for a moment. Hermione raised an eyebrow at the teacher, waiting to see if he would dare to say no to the little girl who had been waiting only for him for a few days. His only answer was a sigh and Hermione smiled, knowing that her daughter had won again.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the chapter :) how did you find it ? I trully hope you liked it <3
> 
> In the next chapter our trio will be again together and things may accelerate a little ;) and maybe... maybe ;) there will be the outing of the nice side of Severus in front of the students :p (maybe)
> 
> Please, have a nice week end, do not hesitate to say what you think of this chapter, good or bad, and do not hesitate to leave a lettle kudos for my heart <3


	8. Birthday, outing and Quidditch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The year start, with Hermione's birthday, an outing and the first quidditch match :)
> 
> Again many thanks to the comments and kudos <3 still making me so happy

Hermione had trouble holding her daughter who was jumping around in excitement. It was finally August 19th and she and Rose were on their way to the Hogwarts Express platform. There were many ways as a teacher to go to the castle but she had a nostalgic attachment to the famous red locomotive. 

Arriving in front of the wall of the platform 9¾, she lifted Rose up in her arms and crossed over. She found herself on the familiar platform, invaded by the smoke from the sputtering locomotive. 

The little girl wiggled in her arms and she put her back on the ground. Hermione grabbed her hand firmly so she wouldn't run away and Rose strat pulling her arm, pointing at the train.

"Come on, Mummy! Let's go!"

She let herself be pulled towards one of the doors of the train and they climbed into one of the first carriages. Rose ran from window to window, looking at who was in each of the compartments and Hermione knew exactly what she was looking for, or rather who she was looking for. 

The train was almost empty, she didn't pass anyone from Hogwarts. The train had fewer carriages than usual and was mostly occupied by people from Hogsmeade and the surrounding area.

They crossed several carriages, Hermione watching her daughter with a tolerant smile and following her in her adventures. Suddenly the little girl let out a little squeal, opened the door and threw herself into the compartment. Hermione approached the door and watched, surprised but at the same time not at all, the scene in front of her. 

Rose had climbed up on the bench that Severus was sitting on. He had just closed a book and was sitting at the window side of the compartment, legs crossed and in a completely black outfit. He was wearing a shirt and suit trousers. His jacket was neatly placed on the bench, which her daughter was currently wrinkling. 

He barely had time to take a surprised look at the little girl as she threw her little arms around his neck. Hermione could see Severus' eyes widening and she herself froze, fearing that she would break the moment. 

The former Death Eater didn't really seem to know how to react for a while, and left Hermione gobsmacked when he finally relaxed slightly and put his hand on the little girl's back, nervously clearing his throat. Eventually Rose let him go came unstuck and gave her a big smile.

"Hello Sev!"

"Hello Rose. Miss Granger."

Hermione gave him a polite smile and gently closed the sliding door behind her. She pulled her daughter slightly to retrieve the potion teacher's jacket and folded it up to put it away.

"Hello Severus."

Hermione sat on the bench in front of the potion teacher and his daughter. She watched silently as her daughter explained the importance of taking care of her books by making big explanatory gestures. She seemed to imitate her as she was explaining the same thing to the little girl the day before. Severus had his head in his hand, his elbow on the window sill, his legs elegantly crossed, patiently watching the little girl.

The train sounded its siren and set off, filling the cab with the regular and mechanical sound of the locomotive. She still remembered the first time she had heard this sound, leaning out of the window, stressed and excited at the thought of leaving her parents for the first time. Now she was on that train with her own daughter.

She felt tears that she couldn't understand coming up to her eyes. She remained silent for a long time, trying to engraved this moment in her memory.

* * *

It had been a week since the start of the school year, the students had invaded the premises again and Hermione had never been so stressed. She was already overwhelmed and invaded by a large quantity of exams to correct, authorisations for Hogsmeade for the pupils in her house, checking that the signatures had not been made by a forger quill, answers to letters from first year's parents distraught about leaving their children for the first time...

She had asked Harry and Ginny to watch her daughter for the night so that she could catch up. She was in the teachers' common room, surrounded by many piles of scrolls, lost in the many things she had to do. 

" Really, Granger, what on earth is this?"

Hermione looked up in surprise. The potion teacher looked at the state of the table with his arms folded and she felt herself blushing. She sighed.

"I may have done too much for the first days of school..."

He sighed and shook his head.

"The school year is not a sprint but a marathon. Don't kill yourself in the first few kilometres."

He lifted the scroll closest to him and began to read it. 

"Theoretical exams for the second year?"

"Yes, it's important to see what they remember from their first year!"

He sighed and took off the long coat he wore to class and placed it on the chair in front of her. He took one of her goose feathers and retrieved the second year exams pile. Without saying anything, he started correcting the papers and Hermione felt strangely relieved.

"Thank you Severus."

He frowned at her.

"Don't have any illusions. Learn how to organise yourself so that you don't find yourself overwhelmed again. I will not do this every day, I've got enough papers to grade on my own."

Ignoring the spikes, she accepted the kindness of the gesture and felt red on her cheeks before starting again her answers to the parents' letters. For long hours, as the other teachers came and went in the room, occasionally commenting on the duo, only the sound of quills on the parchment could be heard. 

* * *

Hermione had just returned home carrying her sleeping daughter in her arms, her little head on her shoulder. She walked through the living room where a fire was dying in the fireplace and went to her daughter's bedroom.

This was the room she had changed the most when they arrived. The room was now very cosy, the floor was covered with a thick carpet, coloured cushions spread over the floor. The little girl's bed was nestled in a wooden alcove from which curtains fell to completely isolate her from the outside world. The furniture was covered with books and toys of all kinds. Above her bed floated magical orbs which emitted a very soft light that changed colour according to their mood. 

She delicately put her daughter on her fluffy white bedspread, took off her shoes and jacket and slipped her under the sheets. She kissed her forehead, watched her sleep for a little while before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. 

Rose and Hermione had spent the older Granger's birthday party at the Potters' house where Neville, Luna and her fiancé had joined them. Ron had chosen not to come and she was both relieved and saddened by his absence. She knew there would be nothing between them anymore but losing his friendship still hurt her.

She returned to the living room and made herself a cup of tea. She took the mug in her hands, warming her cold fingers and she sat down on one of the chairs on the dining room table. 

She felt strangely nostalgic. She was only 25 but she sometimes felt old and tired. She undid her bun and laid her hand on her hair, wondering for the umpteenth time if she shouldn't cut it all off. She kept it attached all the time anyway. 

She was laybe nostalgic of an old time but at last she felt like she belonged. People didn't just look at her as a single mother, but as a competent witch. People helped her to look after her daughter, she didn't have to manage everything on her own anymore and she wasn't demeaned for that. She was starting to take control of her classes and even personalize them. She was now much better organized in her time. Her students seemed to enjoy her classes. 

What she was doing was meaningful, training and shaping the next generation of wizards, the future of Britain. She even managed to free up some time to study arithmetic calculations with Septima.

Her spirits were not at their highest before she came to Hogwarts, her life revolved around her daughter, and although she wouldn't change a thing, regaining a role as a witch, a professional and a woman did her a lot of good. She wasn't just a mother anymore.

At last Hermione noticed a small, elegant box on the table. She was surprised, she had already been extremely spoiled by her friends and colleagues at the Potters' house. She pulled the box towards her. It was an inlaid box and her heart was clutching in anticipation. She had some idea who might have sent it. She ran one hand over the smooth lid of the box, appreciating the geometric design and then lifted the lid.

Inside the box was a pair of sober and elegant gloves. Hermione recognised the seal which indicated that it was made of dragon leather. Her initials were inscribed on the wrist. She lifted a glove. It was light and the lining was fine, soft fur. She put the glove on and immediately felt that it had a warming charm to keep her hands warm no matter the weather. 

Under the gloves she found a small note on a fine parchment paper.

"Happy birthday, Severus Snape."

She felt herself smiling and gently replaced the parchment with a swollen heart and rosy cheeks. 

* * *

Hermione and her daughter were heading towards the teachers' common room. The young woman was wearing her old grey cap, her usual long blue woollen coat and a thick scarf in the colours of gryffindor. She moved her fingers in her dragon leather gloves. 

She didn't really like quidditch, but as a new head of the house, she was obliged to go and support her house for the first game of the season, Gryffindor vs Slytherin.

Her daughter was totally thrilled to finally see her first game. She was dressed in a big pink jacket and a gryffindor scarf with her stuffed lion in her arms. She was trotting beside her, not stopping for a second to ask question after question. 

The teachers traditionally met before the match in their common rooms before taking the long walk together to the quidditch pitch.

The Grangers entered the stone-walled room. The huge chimney was crackling loudly. The weather was cold at the beginning of November and all the teachers were warmly dressed. 

Hermione very quickly spotted the tall and dark figure of the Potion teacher. He was wearing his usual outfit with a green and silver scarf that hid his scar and was chatting with Minerva with his arms folded over his chest.

The headmistress turned to the two newcomers as they approached them. Rose threw herself as usual into Severus' legs. He unhooked his arms and put his hand on her cat-eared hat as a reflex now. Minerva bent down and asked the little girl : 

"So, Rose, happy to go to your first match?"

"Yes!"

She stood up, looked at Severus with a meaningful look, greeted Hermione warmly and left them alone, saying she was going to fetch Flitwick. Severus rolled his eyes. Minerva spent all her time asking him about his relationship with the Grangers, the daughter and the mother. 

Hermione raised her gloved hands, showing the gift she was putting on for the first time.

"I haven't thanked you for it yet."

"That's not necessary."

Rose looked at her mother and then at Severus and moved her eyes from one to the other, watching the adults. Hermione had just asked a question about one of the last articles in the November potions journal she had borrowed from him. Gently, Rose pulled the potion teacher's sleeve and waited for him to look down at her. 

"Sev, are we going to Quidditch together?"

"Indeed," he replied.

"Have you ever seen a match? Can you fly on a broom?"

With these questions, the attention was back on her and she continued asking questions about the rules of quidditch for a few minutes. Severus and Hermione did their best to answer them. 

Eventually Minerva returned to the room with Filius who was wrapping his Ravenclaw Scarf around his neck despite the match being a Slytherin vs Gryffindor matc. Minerva announced that they could all now leave for the pitch.

The procession of teachers then joined the procession of students who were already on their way to the pitch. The road was as complicated as the young woman remembers with a sometimes slippery paved path, steps and almost two kilometres to go. 

Rose, too impatient and not paying attention to where she was walking, almost fell down more than once. Severus caught her the first time, putting her back on her feet and when she almost fell down the stairs a second time, Hermione lifted her up to place her on her hip. Severus said nothing but looked at her attentively.

Hermione carried her daughter for long minutes, feeling her arms tensing under the strain. Her legs were already tired from the already difficult hike but with her daughter wriggling in her arms, looking around her it was worse and Hermione started to slow down. 

A rock almost made her fall and she felt Severus' hand grab her arm and hold her upright. He sighed.

"Give her to me."

Hermione cast a very surprised glance at the potion teacher who was looking at her seriously. She felt the irritation overwhelming her.

"I can perfectly carry my daughter."

He sighed, as if he was expecting that answer. Severus had his teeth clenched. Some students were beginning to pass them with a curious look as their colleagues got a bit ahead of them. 

"Granger, don't be a Gryffindor. We're barely halfway there."

The little girl silently watched her mother and then Severus as if she didn't want to break the moment and say the wrong thing. 

Hermione hesitated, looking at the road still to be travelled, her daughter, and Severus, surely wondering if she couldn't just cast a spell. 

Eventually she nodded, moving her daughter into his arms and entrusting her to the potion teacher. Severus took the little girl in his arms for the first time and held her against him. The little girl gave him a happy smile and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He sighed again. He knew very well what a spectacle he was giving to the students around him, all dressed in black, carrying a little girl in pink with a stuffed lion. He could say goodbye to his ability to scare the students. They could already hear the whispers around them.

They set off again at a good pace and joined Minerva and the others who were waiting for them after realizing that the trio was missing. He rolled againg his eyes when he saw Minerva giving him an amused look, her hand hiding what was certainly a smile.

After another twenty minutes of walking, they reached the pitch and Severus relieved his arms by putting down the little girl who was looking, with her mouth open, at the huge Quidditch stadium. 

He sat down in his usual seat, Hermione sat directly beside him, chatting with Septima who was sitting on the other side of her. Rose was taking all the pitch, gapping.

The players entered the pitch for the warm-up, flying in all directions to the delight of Rose who didn't know where to look anymore. She ran towards her mother and Severus.

"Mummy! Sev! Look out!"

The little girl pointed to a part of the stadium where some pupils had made a lion in light that almost blinded them. She put her stuffed lion on her mother's lap and stood between her and Severus, trying to be even taller to see even more. 

"When does it start?" asked the little girl, who was jumping up and down on the spot.

Hermione pointed at Rolanda Hooch who was coming to the centre of the field with the case containing the different balls.

"When Rolanda whistles the start of the match."

As if to punctuate her sentence, Rolanda shouted her instructions to the players and her high-pitched whistle resounded in the stands, the cries of the spectators rising at the same time. 

Hermione felt the stress rising. A stress that came as soon as she saw people flying. She could still feel it when she looked at Giny who had made it her job. There, seeing children as young as twelve years old taking so many risks, her throat became knotted. 

Rose was always standing between them, regularly letting out little cries of joy in front of impressive moves. She trotted to the fence and Hermione, catching her arm so her daughter wouldn't lean too far, lost her balance and grabbed the first thing she could and it was Severus' knee. 

She brought her daughter closer to them and released the potion teacher's leg. She threw him a slight "Sorry" which did not make him react. He looked away to applaud a goal scorred by Slytherin's captain. He was a willing and fair-minded young man, unlike the pre-war Quidditch captains of his house. 

After several minutes of play, Hermione leaned towards him. 

"I warn you, if Rose asks for a broom, it's absolutely out of the question."

Severus allowed himself a slight smirk. The little girl's excitement was so palpable that the possibility was becoming more and more likely.

"Your daughter once tried to jump from the top of a bookcase. I don't think it's a good idea to allow her to try from higher up," he replied mischievously.

Hermione smiled back at him before bringing her daughter back to her again to point to a snake-like firework display on the other side of the stands.

"120 to 90 for Gryffindor!" The score reasoned in the stadium, punctuated by the shouts of the fans.

Suddenly the little girl grabbed her mother. 

"Mummy! The golden ball! Over there!"

She was pointing at a spot in the pitch and Severus and Hermione could quickly see the seekers quickly moving in that direction. A chase started and the players, after some pushing and shoving, melted into an impressive dive. They then made their way up, with the green dressed player gaining distance. He rolled over and finally raised his arm in victory. 

All the green stands rose in one motion and shouted with joy, Severus followed, standing up to give an honest round of applause to what he could call the good game of his house. The commentator's voice echoed through the stadium.

"The snitch is caught! Slytherin wins! 240 to 120!”

Rose jumped, bursting out, laughing and clapping as loud as she could. Hermione stood up with all the teachers, who applauded the good game of the two teams.

"Mummy!This is so cool! Can we come back? When's the next game?"

Hermione put her hand to her forehead and shook her head in despair.

"Merlin... my daughter loves quidditch."

Severus stopped clapping and turned to her. 

"She has the sight of a seeker."

She turned suddenly to him, a terrified look on her face. 

"Severus! I hate brooms! My daughter can't like quidditch! I'm afraid just watching people play!"

"Mummy! I want a broom!"

Hermione cast a desperate look at her daughter and for the first time in years, Severus was surprised to let out a burst of laughter. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Severus and Rose relationships is finally known by the students, and I enjoyed a little too much torturing Hermione with the Quidditch.
> 
> Please, do not hesitate to leave me a comment or a kudos, I'm always happy to read them and answer the questions. 
> 
> Have a nice week end !


	9. Birthday again, sleep over and injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi every one, as always I cannot thank you enough for all the nice comments and kudos. It always bring a smile to my lips!  
> This chapter was really fun to write and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did !

" Mummy!"

Her class had just finished and the last student had just left when her daughter ran into the room and went around the desk to hug her. She bent down to give her daughter a hug and a kiss on her forehead.

Severus walked closer to the desk, silent and looking at the scene with his arms folded. He cleared his throat.

"Your daughter has only one thing on her mind right these days."

Hermione frowned and straightened up immediately, placing her closed fists on her hips. 

"No brooms! She's too young! I've warned everyone. Do you hear me, Rose?"

The young woman looked her daughter seriously in the eyes, waiting for her to nod to hat she was already told many times. Rose pulled out a sulky lip and looked down.

"Yes, Mummy."

Seeing the disappointment in her daughter made her feel guilty, Hermione loosened her pose and sighed. 

"Can you get me the parchments from the desks, please?"

Rose raised her head with a smile, happy with her mission.

"Yes!" she said.

The little girl began to retrieve the parchments, stacking them as best she could. Severus moved closer to the desk. He glanced at the girl who was busy with her task and spoke in a voice low enough not to be heard and not to attract the curious ear of the little girl.

"That's not the only thing she kept talking about."

Hermione looked up at the papers she was putting away on her desk.

" Really? What else ?" She asked, surprised.

"A cat."

She froze for a moment. He cast a curious glance at her. Hermione slipped a curl behind her ear, nervous. 

"I didn't think she remembered it anymore. She hasn't told me anything about it for quite some time."

"She told me she knew it was painful for you. She mentions it to me regularly."

Hermione glanced at her daughter who had just dropped a parchment under a desk and was crawling underneath to retrieve it.

"Yes... I lost my cat not so long ago. It was half-Kneazle. We had a special relationship."

He didn't answer, his arms still folded, looking at her. He cleared his throat again.

"Maybe that would be a good idea to get her off this broom idea."

Hermione sighed, and leaned against her desk.

"I don't like it when you're right."

A slight smile spread on the potion teacher's lips.

"I'm always right," he replied mischievously.

She laughed and picked up her stack of paper and stored it in a drawer.

"Her birthday is in a few days," he added.

At that moment the little girl came to their side and handed the pile of parchment to her mother.

"Mummy! I'm finished!"

Hermione gave Rose a small smile, still unsure, and picked up the pile.

"Thank you sweetie"

No longer expecting an answer, the potion teacher wished them a good day and turned around. 

"Severus?"

He stopped in his tracks and turn to look at her.

"If it is still there, I agree. I'll take care of the rest."

He nodded his head and walked out of the classroom.

* * *

Hermione had taken her daughter to her grand parents' for her birthday. They had just returned from France and had prepared all of Rose's favourite foods.

She had French cakes and a huge art kit, books, a potion kit for children and the Snitch Snatcher game!.

Hermione had warned her daughter that she would not get the gift from her until they got home and after a long and happy day she apparate to Hogwarts. The teachers could now apparate in the teachers' common room since the last renovation of the protection fields. Hermione took out her wand and made her otter appear, and it flew to the potion teacher's flats leaving a silver trail. She and her daughter went to their own flats with the little girl getting more and more impatient.

"Sit down on the couch sweetie".

Rose ran to the sofa and watch her mother cast an attraction spell. A large bundle flew into the room and landed in front of the now verry happy little girl. She started to open the package and discovered two bowls, one with "meow" written on it, another with cat paws, there was a pink and fluffy cat basket, a brush, toys...

She looked up curiously at her mother.

" Mummy, what's all this?"

With perfect timing, Severus walked into the flats, carrying a crate, which he placed on the coffee table. The little girl was speechless and looked through the crate's grid. The white cat looked back at her with two different eyes, slowly blinking at her. He meowed softly and this brought a cry of joy out of the little girl. She threw herself into the arms of her mother who was sitting on the sofa and then into Severus' legs. The cat meowed again and she returned to her observation.

"Mummy? Can we open the door?! Can we open it?" she asked.

Hermione got up and opened the gate. Rose held out her arms to grab the cat under its front paws and pulled it to her.

"Rose be careful, it's not a toy."

The cat let her without protesting and the little girl hold it against her. He finally let out another meow, sounding almost despondent to Hermione's ears. 

"What's his name?!"

Severus sighed and answered.

“... Geminoculinarium"

"Pardon?" Hermione looked at him with furrowed brows, surprised.

"I will not repeat..." he sighed "They call it Gemini."

* * *

It was only a few days later and Severus was in his living room grading papers. 

"They will never learn," he sighed as he wrote a big red T on the parchment and looked at the time. It was two o'clock in the morning. 

Suddenly his protective fields warned him, someone was trying to get into his home. 

He picked up his wand and got up. He came closer to the door, ready to use it. In an emergency, Minerva always sent a message before coming so it couldn't be her. He allowed the door to open and heard footsteps. He remained discreet in a corner when suddenly :

"Meow."

"Sev?"

Severus immediately stepped out of the corner and discovered the little girl in her night clothes, her stuffed lion in her arms and her hair all over the place. She had big and tired eyes full of tears, her cat circling around her. 

"Rose? What are you doing here?"

On hearing her name, tears began to flow. She reached out her little arms to him and he walked the short distance between them to lift her up. The little girl huddled against him, Leo caught between them. 

"Mummy she wasn't well last night and... and I had a nightmare and... and she won't wake up!"

She sobbed, her face buried in Severus' neck. The little girl was freezing and shivering with cold and stress. He used his wand to make a blanket appear and wrap the little girl in it. He then leave the flat, the cat following him, and went as quickly as possible to the private quarters of the Grangers. They were three floors above his own.

He quickly climbed up the cold stairs of the castle. The little girl was crying and trembling in his arms. He cleared his throat and tried to take her mind off the situation.

"How did you find my flats?"

"It's Gemini..."

Severus glanced at the cat following them, tail high in the air. They soon came to a portrait of a young girl sitting on a tablecloth on a lake shore. When she saw the duo, she stood up, her eyes fogged with tears.

"Rose... your mother won't be happy that I let you go! Again! Professor Snape, Hermione doesn't look well at all, I didn't want to leave in case Rose came back, I didn't know what to do!"

Severus cut the tirade from the painting.

"Open."

The little girl whispered in his ear...

"You've got to tell him "A New theory of numerology.""

The portrait seemed relieved to hear her permission and rotated to let the teacher and the child through.

He entered quickly and Rose immediately pointed to one of the doors in the room.

The flats were cosy and warm, mostly burgundy red. He tried to put down the girl, who clung to him and whimpered, so he put her back against him. The room had a dining table with four chairs, a sofa facing a fireplace and a small kitchenette. 

He went to the room shown and entered the room. It was Hermione's room. A commode was covered with pictures, Muggles and magical. The furniture was light and the linen was white. In the bed, the young woman was lying down, asleep but not peaceful. She was breathing too heavily, her skin was too red and was shiny with perspiration. She was half covered with a thick duvet and he could see a pair of shorts and a cotton T-shirt sticking out.

He sat down on the bed, the little girl ending up on his lap, still refusing to let go of him. He reached out his hand to put it on the young woman's forehead. He let out a surprised breath as he felt the warmth emanating from her skin. He pointed his wand at Hermione and whispered a diagnostic spell.

Gemini jumped on the bed and watched them, its tail swinging calmly from side to side. 

"Is mummy all right?"

The little girl's voice echoed in the quiet of the night. The diagnosis was written on a parchment coming from the end of her wand. An infection. He frowned.

"Did your mother hurt herself somewhere?"

"Mommy's arm always hurts."

Severus gently turned the arm closest to him and saw nothing. Then he let go of the little girl and bent down to look at the second arm. On the inside was a bandage which the blood was already starting to flow through. He finally managed to put down the little girl who this time agreed to be put down, reassured to see the actions of the wizard. He went around the bed and carefully took of the bandage.

Underneath was engraved in the skin the words "Mudblood", the wound was visibly infected and oozing. He could see that it was old and unnatural.

"Twinky."

A house elf immediatly appeared in the room, startling the little girl who hid behind Severus and the cat who hissed at him.

"Bring me an antipyretic potion and some essence of murlap from my laboratory."

"Yes, sir."

The elf disappeared only to reappear soon after, startling the little girl again. 

"Thanks Twinky, you can go."

"Yes, sir."

The elf disappeared in a last sound and Severus poured the potion between the lips of his former pupil and cleaned the wound with the essence of murlap.

" Is Mommy going to be all right?"

"Yes. Tomorrow morning it should be over."

He finished re-bandaging her arm and tried to get up. The little girl grabbed his sleeve tightly and gave him a look that was starting to call the Slytherin look as she always use it to make him do what she wanted. 

"Will you stay?"

He frowned and hesitated. The mother was clearly not abble to look after her daughter right now... he didn't want the girl to go throught all the castle to fetch him if something went wrong. 

"Very well," he sighed.

* * *

Hermione woke up. She felt much better than the night before and her arm almost didn't hurt any more.

She felt sticky, as if she had sweated a lot during the night because of her fever. She stood up and looked at her bandage, frowning when she saw that it was different. She cast a spell to feel cleaner, she would bask in a bath later. She put on clean pyjamas that were cotton shorts and an old t-shirt. She became more and more intrigued and even began to worry. Rose was an early riser and no matter what the day, she would come and wake her up at 7am if she wasn't already. 

She froze on the doorstep with a towel in her hand. On her sofa sat cross-legged, elbow on the armrest, head in hand, her old potion teacher, eyes closed. He was in black trousers and shirt with his sleeves rolled up, she could see the mark of darkness, erased by time, from where she was. The head on the teacher's leg was her daughter's, sleeping just as much and huddled in a green blanket with the head of Leo the lion barely sticking out.

She frowned, wondering what could have happened and what her daughter and Severus were doing in her sofa. Without making a sound, she went back to her room to put on a satin dressing gown she never wore and bewitched her hair to put it in a high bun. She checked her appearance in the mirror and went to her kitchen. As quietly as she could, she began to make tea. As she was getting out of the cups, she looked up and met the teacher who was watching her from the couch, now awake. 

He gently lifted the little girl's head so as not to wake her up and stood up, walking towards her. 

"Why didn't you go to the infirmary," he asked in a hoarse voice.

"Good morning to you too, Severus."

She saw him frown. 

"Your daughter came all the way through the castle looking for me because her mother didn't wake up."

She almost dropped the bottle of milk magically kept fresh. 

"Pardon?!"

The teacher seemed really angry but kept his voice down, probably so as not to wake the little girl.

" You heard me. Your daughter was terrified she couldn't wake you up and came looking for me."

"But... how did she -"

" Whatever, the point is, because you can't even manage yourself, she's been wandering around Hogwarts alone at night!"

Hermione felt anger overwhelm her, put her fists on her hip and leaned forward over the counter and sent the professeur a dark glare.

"How dare you?! Not able to handle myself?! After the war I was wounded, traumatised, lost, orphaned and pregnant! I decided to keep her in spite of everything, I gave her all I could and I love her more than anything! This wizarding world is so misogynistic that I have to fight all the time to prove that I can raise my daughter on my own and I think I'm doing a fucking great job ! Keep your opinion to yourself!"

"Mummy?"

Hermione and Severus freeze. She softens her face and look around the tall silhouette.

"Hi sweetie, Severus told me I scared you yesterday?"

The little girl got up and ran to her, Hermione lifted her up and held her down against her with habit.

"You were not waking up."

"I'm sorry sweetie... I was sick but I'm better now, okay?"

The little girl nodded her head. Hermione put her down on the floor.

"Go wash and dress, we'll have breakfast here."

"Yes, Mama!"

The little girl walked around the island and trotted to the bathroom leaving the two adults alone. Hermione avoided the teacher's gaze, poured two cups of tea and began to prepare hot chocolate for her daughter. 

"This wound... has it been examined by medicine?" he finally asked.

Still tense, Hermione mixed the milk and chocolate, just wanting to ask the wizard to leave. She finally sighed. 

"Yes, the ones from St. Mungo. It was made by a cursed blade... it gets reinfected regularly and I'm used to dealing with it. Yesterday it happened faster than usual. Nobody knows about it... I would appreciate it if you didn't tell our colleagues..."

Severus then went around the island and held out a gentle hand to her, waiting for her permission. She put down what she was holding and held out her arm. He carefully lifted the bandage. She gritted her teeth in pain and he put the bandage back on. 

"I know a specialist in cursed wounds in London. If you allow me, I will send him a letter. He has already... studied mine."

He spoke low and his raspy morning voice made her shiver. He put one hand on his neck, touching his rough and scarred skin. It was the first time she had seen it so close. It was impressive and took nearly half of his neck.

It was the first time she had ever observed him in detail in a long while. He was less intimidating without his black robes. His hair was a little longer and cleaner than what she had in memory, his skin was less sickly than before. Then she suddently caught herself looking at his lips and she looked away sharply, surprised and embarassed. She cleared her throat and tried to change her mind.

"Would you like some tea?" she politely asked

He seemed to realise their position himself. He let go of her arm, crossed his and stepped back.

"No. I have other obligations. Wish your daughter a good day on my behalf."

She walked with him to the door with a knot in her belly and, as he had just walked out the doorstep, she gently grabbed his wrist.

"Severus?"

The professor turned around and gave her a curious look. 

"Thank you for looking after my daughter... and... and me." 

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, seemingly nervous. She smiled at him as if to reassure him that he had nothing to answer, but he cleared his throat and finally spoke.

"Take care of yourself Hermione"

She widened her eyes in surprise, felt herself blushing and thanked him for turning around almost immediately and walking away. She heard her daughter run in the room as she closed the door.

"Mummy? Where's Sev?"

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There :) already 9 chapters, I can't believe it.  
> I trully hope you liked it, Do not hesitate to leave a comment, even if the chapter did not please you, I would like to know why, and you liked it I also would like to know why XD  
> Thanks to every one <3 even you reading me bring me joy 
> 
> In the next one it will be christmas ! And gifts ! And a party ! all good things !


	10. Christmas, dancing and flying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More than 100 comments, close to 350 kudos and nearly 5000 hits... I can't believe it, thank you all so much, I'm so glad that you all like this story.
> 
> There is the new chapter, a sweet christmas chapter <3

**Chapter 10 : Christmas, dancing and flying**

It was the second quidditch match of the Hogwarts House Cup. Hermione had been delighted not to have to attend this HufflePuff vs. Ravenclaw match until her daughter found out about it from Flitwick and begged her over several days to be allowed to go. 

It was even colder than the previous match and the teachers were dressed even warmer. This time Pomona was present and it surprised Hermione again to no longer see the shadow of Neville behind her. The young man had left the castle to go on an exploration trip to America in order to finalise his master's thesis.

On arriving in the teachers' common room she discovered that, like Filius, Severus and Minerva also had the habit of attending all the matches. The former house's head quartet was in discussion when she and her daughter entered.

She saw Rose trotting towards Severus and went herself to the arithmetic teacher to share a new idea. Rose arrived at the level of her favourite adult and reached out to him. The potion teacher looked at her for a moment and then lifted the little girl up and held her against him. 

"Hello Sev, Hello!" she added, finally noticing the presence of the other teachers.

Minerva, still crazy about the little girl, approached her, visibly moved to see her in Severus' arms. She greeted the little girl with her Scottish accent.

"Hello Rose, how are you?"

"I'm fine!" The little girl turned immediately to the Slytherin. "Sev, why didn't you eat with me when you slept at home?"

Severus grunted as he held his free hand to his forehead. He wasn't used to being surprised and couldn't hide his reactions and he even felt himself blush. In front of him Minerva hid a smile behind a gloved hand and Flitwick and Pomona seemed torn between surprise and amusement.

He felt the need to justify his presence immediately, but Granger had asked him not to mention his injury. He put his mask of neutrality back on his face and lowered his hand.

"I had other obligations," he finally replied.

Filius, who was obviously expecting his colleague to deny it, looked at him stunned. At his side, Pomona seemed just as surprised but her Hufflepuff empathy pushed her to put her hand on the shoulder of the Charms Master, pushing him to step away and go and talk to the professor of Defense Against The Dark Arts. 

This is the moment Hermione chose to join them, totally unaware of the uneasiness the professor was feeling. 

"Severus, Minerva, I hope you're ready for the match."

Severus didn't answer, staring at an invisible dot on the stone wall and Minerva threw a mischievous smile at him. Hermione frowned and looked at her two colleagues. Her daughter was in the teacher's arms, conscientiously tying the gryffindor scarf to her lion's neck.

"I... I missed something?" she asked. 

"To tell you the truth, Miss Rose here asked why Severus had not eaten at your house after spending the night there," the headmistress repeated, laughing softly.

Severus held back a second grunt when he saw the witch blush even more quickly and vividly than he did. He sighed when he heard the oldest Granger answer with a stammering reply.

"I-it's not at all what you think Minerva is!"

The older witch innocently raised her hands in defence.

"I don't believe anything when it's none of my business." She put her hand on the arm of Severus that was carrying the little girl. "I'll leave you two alone."

With this she walked away and Severus sighed while Hermione was still beet red. She looked at her daughter as the girl tried to attract Severus' attention and show him her lion. 

"Merlin..."

* * *

If the evening of December 25th was when the teachers and students at Hogwarts celebrated Christmas together, December 24th was the teachers' private party. This year Hermione and Rose had stayed at the castle as they had promised the headmistress and would only spend Christmas Eve with the grandparents on the 25th.

The teachers met every year at around 8pm even if an hour had never been officially set. When his clock struck 7.30 pm, Severus had started to get ready. 

Minerva had made him promise to put on something other than his usual wizard's gowns. So he had put on trousers closely fitting, black as usual, a white shirt and a magical fashion pearly black jacket. He then began to tie an emerald green silk scarf around his neck while walking towards his living room.

He raised a surprised eyebrow when he saw a silver otter float through the wall in front of him. The witch's voice echoed through the room. 

"Severus, could you please come when you can?"

He nodded to the animal and it flew away quickly. He finished tying his tie, put on his coat and ran a hand through his hair. He retrieved a box that he used to shrink and keep with him in which he had placed the gifts he wanted to give today. Then he went to the Grangers' flat.

He barely had time to stand in front of the painting to ask for access when the door opened quickly. He saw Hermione appear, with wet hair, wrapped in a towel. His gaze had time to slide over her naked shoulder, follow her collarbone to the birth of her breasts before he averted his eyes out of respect and scraped his throat . 

"Thank you Severus, sorry, could you watch Rose while I get ready? She's far too excited."

Without waiting for an answer, she turned around to go back into the flat and Severus' eyes betrayed him again to slip on the young woman's legs. He swallowed and followed her. He could see her leaning towards her daughter to tell her to stay with him and she quickly disappeared into her bathroom. 

"Sev!"

The little girl got up and stood in front of him with her arms raised. He lifted her up easily and she hugged him.

"Merry Christmas Sev!"

"Merry Christmas Rose. How are you?"

"I can't wait! Mum said we're going to do the presents tonight and not tomorrow!"

He laid the little girl down on the floor, she spun around and lifted up the sides of her dress. It was a bright red dress with a lace-covered bust and a large golden satin ribbon around the waist to match her shiny headband.

"My dress is pretty, isn't it?"

He felt a smile on his face as the little girl spin again, watching her own dress rise with the movement.

"Yes, it is."

Rose gave him a big smile and ran to sit on the sofa.

"Mommy, she'll be ready soon. She's got everything ready."

Severus took off his coat, put it on the back of the sofa and went to sit facing the girl who was obviously excited. Gemini was sleeping, curled in front of the fire.

"She told me we'd give you presents before we left."

Hermione walked out of the bathroom with her wand pointing at her hair, which was neatly arranging itself in a banana bun. She was wearing a burgundy mermaid dress with a slit revealing her legs and still bare feet. The whole upper part was made of lace and let her shoulders and clavicles show through. 

"I thought it would be better to give you your present here."

The witch cast a spell of attraction and a pair of golden heels arrived followed by a large package that landed delicately on the coffee table in front of him. 

Severus had to admit that it was convenient for him. One of his gifts needed to be explained and he preferred to do this in the privacy of the Granger's home. Severus retrieved and enlarged the Grangers' presents from his pocket. He handed the little girl a small box and placed a book-sized gift on the table for the mother. 

Rose began to tear the wrapping around her gift when her mother corrected her:

"Rose! You didn't say thank you! And let Severus open his present first." 

Disappointed, the little girl put her present down and mechanically thanked Severus. Hermione sat down on the sofa and put on her shoes. Severus undid the knot and opened the package cleanly. It was a large cardboard box and he lifted the lid. A new drawing of Rose was placed on a tissue paper that wrapped something around it. The drawing represented all three of them at the quidditch stage. Rose detailed the drawing to him and Severus placed it carefully next to the box. He opened the tissue paper and discovered a new, black woollen coat with silver stitching and dragon leather trim. He frowned, the coat was clearly expensive, much more expensive than what he used to wear. The buttons were silver plated and decorated with a snake forming the letter S. 

" It is enchanted. A spell to isolate from the weather. A spell to help you go unnoticed when you want to, and classic protection spells," listed the Gryffindor.

"Do you like it Sev?" asked Rose, eager for the teacher's feedback.

Severus wanted to refuse, to say it was too much, but the little girl gave him a hopeful look and his mother was watching him and he could see that she knew. She knew that this gift was disturbing him. It wasn't a classic choice, not related to potion, education, or the classic gifts he was usually given. He cleared his throat, ran his hand over the cloth and nodded, which seemed enough to satisfy both Grangers. 

Hermione probably felt sympathy for him and signalled to her daughter that she could open her own present. The little girl threw herself on the box and finished tearing the paper to find a black velvet box. Severus could see Hermione frowning, she had of course recognised a jewellery box. Rose opened the box and let out a little cry of surprise when she discovered a gold bracelet. 

"It is so pretty! Can you put it on me?!" she said as she handed him the bracelet.

Severus lifted the little wristband and tied it around the little girl's wrist.

" It is also enchanted. Rose, if one day you are in danger, lost or in need of help. Put your hand on this bracelet and think of somebody. That person will be able to reach you."

Severus passed on the details of how it works. The person "called" could feel some of the feeling of the person wearing the bracelet, the seller had specified that this was to avoid overuse by children. The "called" person had an immediate intuition of the caller's position and could apparate to reach the caller. 

"Thank you Sev!" The little girl threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. 

"Rose go fetch your shoes" Hermione cut her.

"Yes Mummy" 

The little girl detached herself and went to her room. Hermione waited until the little girl was far enough away. Severus already knew what she was going to say.

"Severus..."

"Don't say it's too much. I doubt that this coat might have been much cheaper. At least if your daughter has the slightest problem, she'll be able to warn you."

The young woman remained silent for a second before getting up and going around the coffee table. Severus got up out of habit and politeness, and to his great surprise Hermione took him in her arms. Too surprised, he didn't react and remained motionless, his nose invaded by his perfume. 

The young woman stood out, visibly amused by his lack of reaction. She thanked him, her hands still on his arms before turning to her daughter who came running back with golden shoes on her feet. 

"But, mummy, you haven't opened your present!"

Hermione sat down on the sofa to open her present. It was a magical object that she didn't know existed. It was an enchanted organiser to help its owner get things organised and to warn him when he was overloading himself. She smiled, immediately understanding why he was giving it to her, she thanked him and he replied that it was so that he wouldn't have to help her every year. She felt only amusement in his answer and let herself smile.

Hermione got up to finish getting ready and came back five minutes later with a very light make-up outside her lips colored with a red matt lipstick matching her dress. Rose became impatient again and called. 

" Are you ready mummy?!"

"Yes I am !! Get your coat on."

Hermione wrapped herself up in a big cape and helped her daughter close the pink jacket that she never wanted to leave. Severus retrieved the coat that the Grangers had given him and put it on, seeing that it was perfectly adapted to his morphology, another spell surely. The little girl petted her cat goodbye. The little girl ran out and Severus let Hermione go first and then followed them.

* * *

The evening was now well advanced, the gifts were open, people were dancing, drinking and talking. It was too much social contact in one evening for him and he was now in a corner, alone. He appreciated that the majority of his colleagues respected his need for tranquillity.

He had just finished his third glass of whisky, he wasn't drunk but was starting to feel the effect of alcohol. He could see across the room that Rose was far too busy playing with her new gifts to pay attention to anything else. He laughed inwardly, thinking that this little girl was far too spoiled. It was nice to see after so much darkness in the world. 

Rose had finally gotten what she had wanted, a magic broom for children, one of those that didn't go higher than a metre. Severus had to hold back a laugh when he saw the shocked face of the mother who had later persuaded her daughter not to try the broom immediately. The package was not signed, but the amused look on Minerva's face at the scene had given him enough information. Potter had undoubtedly been aware of this because he had given the little girl a book on how to fly brooms and a cleaning kit. He had no doubt that Potter would soon see a very angry Hermione at his place. 

Hermione had been invited to dance by most of the male teachers, and even Sinistra had danced with her. She was currently in the middle of the dance floor with the teacher of defence against the dark forces. He felt a negative feeling overwhelming him, a feeling he had not felt for years. He cleared his throat and poured himself a fourth glass. No doubt the one too much. 

"You should ask him to dance instead," Minerva advised him.

Severus held back a jolt, he had not seen his colleague arrive at his side, which proved without a doubt that the glass he was holding in his hand was too much. She seemed to think the same as she took the glass away from him and he rolled his eyes in response. 

"She would say yes," she added.

"Maybe that's what worries me," he replied bitterly.

"Severus, you have the right to be happy, you know," she sighed.

He gave her a dark look, not liking the turn of a conversation he had heard too much of in recent years. He was almost reassured when he saw little Rose running towards them with a unicorn figurine in her hand to show it to them. Minerva had another idea in mind.

"Rose, don't you think Sev and your mother should dance together at least once on this Christmas Eve?"

Severus cast an even darker look at his colleague who pretended not to see anything and he didn't even have time to react to the little girl's little cry of surprise as she went straight to see her mother. Severus grunted as he saw her take her mother's hand and pull her towards him in front of the amused gaze of the defence teacher. 

"They deserve much better than me," said Severus to Minerva.

"She deserves a man who takes care of her and her daughter and does not think less of her for it. And so far I haven't seen anyone do it better than you."

He sighed, ready to give a counter-argument when the two Grangers arrived.

"Mummy! Sev! You have to dance!"

He saw the young woman blush and put a curl back behind her ear.

"Sweetheart, you can't force people like that."

Rose gave Severus a look of hope with her big brown eyes.

"Sev, will you dance with mummy?"

Severus hesitated and looked up. Hermione kept her eyes closed, no doubt waiting for an excuse from him to avoid giving in this time to her daughter. He could see that she was nervous. He knew that she would say yes, but wasn't expecting her to be affraid of a rejection from him. 

He cleared his throat and, no doubt helped by his three glasses, he gently took Hermione's hand in his own and pulled her towards the dance floor. He could feel the astonished looks of his colleagues around him and the proud smirk of Minerva. he could feel even more the surprise of the young woman he now placed in front of him. He put his hand on Hermione's waist, the witch was no higher than his nose in spite of her heels, and in return she put her free hand on his shoulder.

"You didn't have to," she whispered to him.

Severus looked away, not wishing to cross her eyes for a few seconds before answering.

"I know," he said.

She gave him a big smile that reminded him of her daughter. He should probably start thinking that it was the smile of the little girl that was like her mother's. 

"I can't believe Minerva gave Rose this broom. As if I wouldn't guess it was her! I will die of fear for sure..."

"I hope I'll be there for her first flight to see your face," he replied amused.

Hermione softly hit Severus' shoulder with the hand already on it and gave him a dark but friendly glance.

"Severus, it's not funny... Anyway... What's done is done... Did you see? Filius received a box of heart-shaped chocolates, I wonder who ..."

The couple continued to dance, not realizing that the music had changed during their discussion. Hermione was talking for both of them, and the situation was never awkward for either of them. In a corner of the room a little girl was watching the scene with stars in her eyes.

* * *

"Sev! Sev Sev Sev Sev! I'm going to fly!"

The Potion Teacher looked up from his cauldron. The little girl had just stormed into his personal laboratory. She went around and threw herself into his legs, more excited than ever. He cast a stasis spell to block his potion in its current state and lifted the little girl up into his arms.

She was dressed warmly, probably ready to go out into the snow. Someone knocked gently on his open door and he raised his head to see the mother looking at them with a tender smile.

She walked into the room, she too was dressed warmly. She showed him what she was holding in her hand, the broom.

"Hello Severus. I'm planning to have a heart attack this morning, would you like to witness it?"

"I would love to."

He put down the girl and put on his new coat. He tied a black cashmere scarf around her neck and followed the two girls to the main courtyard, which was empty of students in this end of December. 

Rose retrieved the broom from her mother's hands and climbed on it. 

"Be careful Rose!"

Severus drew the young mother away, as she was watching in horror as her daughter tried to fly. he took her to a bench that was enchanted to stay dry and warmer than the weather allowed. 

"This broom is made for babies who can barely walk. Rose will be fine. If she even managed to fly."

He could see that the young woman wasn't listening to him, too worried about watching her daughter and reminding her to be careful. He tried to distract her but that was exactly the moment when Rose managed to get up off the ground for a short moment. She got up as if to go and fetch her daughter and Severus grabbed her hand. Surprised, the witch turned towards him.

"Hermione. Everything will be all right. Sit down. I'm sure you've read the instructions listing the protective spells for these broomsticks at least ten times."

The young woman hesitated, but he kept holding her eyes, himself sure the little girl was safe. She sat down but didn't let go of his hand and tightened her grip when Severus gently tried to remove his hand...

"Twelve times." she corrected

He shook his head, exasperated and amused. 

"I hate flying..." she added.

"And she seems to like it. Let her enjoy herself or she'll hide it to you."

She sighed nervously and turned her hand in his to hold it firmly. He thought for a moment that he was going to keep the mark of her fingers on his hand for a long time. The young mother still didn't seem comforted with her daughter who was beginning to succeed in rising from the ground for a longer time. 

He cleared his throat, determined to find a way to relax the witch.

"I've had a return from this specialist in London. For your arm." 

Hermione let go of her daughter's gaze, loosened her grip on his hand but didn't let go.

"Did you? What did he say?"

Severus watched their hands for a moment, not noticing Hermione looking intently at his face, trying to analyse his reactions. He finally cleared his throat and replied.

"He'd like to suggest a new treatment for you-"

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, as usual do not hesitate for comments <3 I love them.  
> I wish you all a good week end :)


End file.
